A future for tuna WWF Partnership Project Towards Sustainable Tuna Fisheries

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1 A future for tuna WWF Partnership Project Towards Sustainable Tuna Fisheries Background: The growing appetite for tuna Tuna is a favourite with many: as a tasty bite of sushi, a steak in a seafood restaurant, in a salad or as pizza topping. As a consequence of our growing appetite 60% of the tuna stocks globally are overfished and the pressure is increasing. Half of the tuna consumed worldwide comes from the Western and Central Pacific, with the Philippines being one of the major producers of tuna products. Industrialised tuna fishing comes at a high ecological price: longline vessels deploy millions of hooks each day and purse seiners with huge nets encircle anything that swims under the fishaggregating devices. As a side effect of these indiscriminate fishing methods, millions of other non-target marine animals die as by-catch, such as threatened sharks, billfish and sea turtles. WWF s work towards sustainable tuna fisheries in the Partnership Project Towards Sustainable Tuna Fisheries Handline Fishing vessels in Mindoro WWF is focussed on limiting the pressure on tuna stocks and to reduce by-catch in tuna fisheries. One approach of WWF is to work directly with fisheries at the community level to improve 1 Steckbrief Thunfisch auf den Philippinen

2 resource management practices. In 2011, WWF started a project with European and Philippine partners to establish more sustainable tuna fisheries in the Philippines. The project works with artisanal fishers and, local and national authorities, to establish responsible management practices. The project aims to prevent overfishing of the yellowfin tuna stock in Philippine waters and secure the livelihood of thousands of fishermen and their families who are dependent on this fishery for their livlihoods. The Yellowfin Tuna Handline Fishery In this artisanal fishery, tuna is caught traditionally using a highly selective method called handline fishing which has very little by-catch of other species or juvenile tuna. Every fisherman works with a single hook which is deployed at depths of between meters. Only a single, mature tuna is targeted with each line with four or five fishermen employed on each vessel. Only a few tuna are caught during each fishing trip. For this reason the tuna from this fishery is more expensive than from longliners, which catch considerably more tuna but also a lot of by-catch - during one trip. Due to the fact that the handline fishery has very little by-catch of other species and juvenile tuna the fishing method can be considered the more environmentally friendly of the fishing methods. However, little is known about the overall impact of the fishery on the stock of Yellowfin tuna. The Project Areas There are two fishing areas within the scope of the project: Photographs: Fishing vessels, handlines and bait 1) The Gulf of Lagonoy is one of the most productive fishing areas on the east coast of the Philippines. The Gulf is probablys an important spawning ground for Yellowfin tuna. Lagonoy Gulf covers an area of around 3700 km² and is <1200 meters deep. WWF is working in the 112 fishing villages in fifteen municipalities which are around the Gulf. 2) Mindoro covers an area of about 9735 km 2 and is the seventh biggest island in the Philippines. In Mindoro WWF is working in 36 fishing villages along the west coast which are spread across six municipalities. 2

3 3 Map: Philippines with WWF Project sites indicated

4 What we want to achieve together To date only limited data is available on the amount of tuna caught in the project regions and there is insufficient regulation of the fishery in the fishing grounds. Better data collection systems are being established in the project to determine the exact rate of catch that the Yellowfin tuna stock in the project regions can sustain. This information will help to define the fishery management measures that will prevent overfishing. WWF collaborates closely with fishermen, local fishery authorities and processors in order to establish a sound fisheries management framework. In total approximately 5800 handline fishers with 3200 vessels are included in the WWF project. Since the start of the project, more than 70% of the tuna fishing vessels in the project regions have been officially registered. Fishers now document the catches and can provide catch certificates that give information on the location and time of the catch. This also is one of the conditions for exporting fish into EU countries. It is envisaged that the entire handline fishery will be made transparent and traceable by the end of WWF supports local fishery authorities and fishermen, to ensure that the remaining vessels will be registered as soon as possible. Through the registration and licensing of the tuna handline fishery the local authorities have a system to monitor and control fishing activities and combat illegal and undocumented fishing in their waters. In 2014, the fishery will enter into the MSC certification process, with the aim to reach MSC certification in With the MSC ecolabel, the tuna from these handline fisheries can be readily recognised and accessed by the consumer. The project will hopefully set a precedent: tuna travels across entire oceans, so it is important that their stocks are not only managed sustainably at local, but on a regional scale. To this end, the WWF Partnership Project can be used as a learning model for tuna mangers in other regions. Mature Yellowfin tuna 4

5 The Partnership Approach The European companies Bell, Coop and Sea Fresh are partners of the WWF project in the Philippines and have made long-term commitments to market the handline-caught tuna in Europe. They financially support the project, which is a Private-Public- Partnership, together with the German Investment and Development Corporation (Deutsche Entwicklungs- und Investitionsgesellschaft, DEG). Contacts: WWF Germany Catherine Zucco Project Lead WWF Germany Mönckebergstraße Hamburg Direct: +49 (40) Catherine.Zucco@wwf.de Sea Fresh B.V. Jan Ras General Director Stortemelk EE URK - Holland Direct: +31 (0) Mobile: +31 (0) Jan.Ras@seafresh.nl 5