Fue Shin Fishery Pacific Ocean Longline Tuna FIP
Overview
Launched in April 2020, the Fue Shin Fishery Pacific Ocean Longline Tuna FIP aims to meet the rising global demand for tuna in a sustainable manner by assuring catches do not exceed sustainable levels, promoting an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, and strengthening policy and governance systems in the Pacific Ocean region. The ultimate goal of the FIP is to achieve certification under the Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard by 2025. The FIP target species are yellowfin, skipjack, bigeye, and albacore, caught by longline vessels flagged to Taiwan fishing on the high seas in the Pacific Ocean. The fishery is managed regionally by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean and by the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO). Along with significant environmental impacts from longline fishing that need to be considered and then addressed, there are also opportunities to improve working conditions and labor practices through the FIP.
This FIP is part of a larger effort O2 is pursuing across Northeast Asia to help lead improvement projects and certification in the longline tuna fishing sector. This FIP is one of two projects between FSF and O2 focused on longline tuna sustainability — the other is for longline tuna vessels in the Indian Ocean.
What We're Doing:
- Contributing to a strategy, timeline and process to rebuild EPO yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks targeted in the FIP.
- Working to define and implement robust, well-managed precautionary harvest strategies and harvest control rules and tools for all four tuna species.
- Ensuring the fishery improves the quality, verification and provision of its catch data and interactions with endangered, protected and threatened species. This is to ultimately support the science and management decision at the WCPFC and IATTC and quantify the fishery’s impact.
- Verifying effective grievance mechanisms are accessible to all workers onboard vessels and making efforts to make crew aware of their rights.
- Assessing social risks in the fishery against globally recognized best practices and integrating opportunities to address human and labor rights in fishery improvement processes.
- Providing technical support and oversight for implementation of both environmental and social work, including progress tracking and reporting transparently on FisheryProgress.org.
Project News and Additional Resources:
- Pre-assessment and Scoping Document of the Fue Shin Fishery (FSF) Longline Tuna FIP against the Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Standard
- Action Plan for the Fue Shin Fishery (FSF) Longline Tuna Fishery
- Building Regional Capacity for Electronic Monitoring Across Taiwan
- Assessing and Addressing Social Risks in Fishery Improvement Projects
- Leading Taiwanese Tuna Company Pursues Sustainability Status
- Ocean Outcomes Expanding Portfolio of Tuna Work Across Northeast Asia
Fishery Improvement Project Information:
| FIP Status: | Comprehensive FIP (tracked fully on FisheryProgress.org) |
| Project Launch: | April 2020 |
| Location: | Pacific Ocean |
| Participants: | Ocean Outcomes, Fue Shin Fishery, Ltd. |
| Species: | Albacore (Thunnus alalunga), Bigeye (T. obesus), Yellowfin (T. albacares), and Skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) |
| Gear Type: | Pelagic Longline |
| Volume: | 2,541 metric tons |
| Documents: | Pre-assessment / Workplan |