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Cases / Fishing ban · Pacific Islands (multiple) · 2022–2024

MSC certification of Pacific purse-seine tuna faces repeated disputes

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 3 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The Marine Stewardship Council certified the Pacific tuna purse-seine fishery, and an independent adjudicator halted a fish-aggregating device (FAD) expansion in 2022. Drifting FADs catch juvenile bigeye and wash ashore, so certification decisions affect tuna stocks and coasts.

What?
Certification of Pacific tuna purse-seine fishing by the Marine Stewardship Council has been challenged, and an adjudicator halted FAD expansion in 2022. PINA
Where?
Western and central Pacific Ocean (PNA tuna purse-seine fleet) PINA
When?
Adjudicator ruling October 2022; re-certification October 2024; report card 2025 PINA
Who?
Gained
  • Marine Stewardship Council — Re-certified the PNA purse-seine fishery in October 2024 Fiskerforum
Lost
  • Bigeye tuna stocks — The WCPFC summary puts fishing mortality at about 1.67 times the level that gives maximum sustainable yield WCPFC
Harmed
  • Coastlines — Tuna-attracting devices wash ashore, an estimated 1,500 to 2,200 a year UNSW Sydney
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Purse-seine vessels use fish-aggregating devices to concentrate tuna, and drifting devices catch juvenile fish, according to a WCPFC summary. WCPFC
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In October 2022 an independent adjudicator's ruling on the MSC-certified PNA purse-seine tuna fishery halted an expansion of fish-aggregating devices (FADs), according to PINA.

The MSC re-certified the PNA purse-seine fishery in October 2024, a catch of about 1.3 million tonnes that includes bigeye tuna and FAD-caught fish, according to Fiskerforum.

A 2019 UNSW study estimated that 30,000 to 65,000 tuna-attracting devices drift each year, with 1,500 to 2,200 washing ashore.

The FFA and SPC Tuna Fishery Report Card 2025 reported a figure of $502 million, flat since 2017, and said a 25% target had not been met.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the MSC's sustainable tuna yearbook lists 2.8 million tonnes certified, with about 300,000 tonnes labelled.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: Pew estimates $5 billion in dockside value and $22.68 billion in final value for the western and central Pacific tuna fishery.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: a 2012 Grist article reports foundation money from the Walton family flowing to MSC, which certifies Walmart's suppliers. No link was retained.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Researchers

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

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