- Western Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) tuna makes up half of the global tuna catch and represents 85% of MSC certified tuna.
- If the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) fails to make significant progress in establishing robust harvest strategies for implementation at its December 2022 meeting, then many MSC-certified tuna fisheries could face difficulty meeting their conditions and certifiers might suspend them in June 2023.
Western Central Pacific tuna
Skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye stocks in the Western Central Pacific Ocean and the albacore stock in the South Pacific are all managed by the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). To be fished sustainably in the long term, all these stocks must have effective harvest strategies and harvest control rules in place. Strategies set target catch levels, with limits, to guide fisheries management. Robust harvest control rules adjust catch levels according to scientific assessments of stock health.
Currently the WCPFC does not have sufficient measures in place but intends to implement these for skipjack and albacore in December 2022 and two years later for yellowfin and bigeye stocks. Meeting these deadlines, vital for MSC-certified fisheries to resolve existing conditions of certification, would have been helped by interim decisions. The WCPFC failed to make these decisions in December 2021 however a final opportunity for them to act remains in December 2022.
