The PNA has this week been rewarded for its vision and hard work in managing a huge segment of the Western and Central Pacific tuna supply, and has been named the winner of the Seafood Champion Award for Vision at the global Seafood Summit in Malta. The company was selected from over 90 applicants.

Of the four awards judged and given out at the event, the award for ‘Vision’ is characterized by a clear and specific concept of the future which “significantly advances the sustainable seafood community”. The PNA were praised for seeing the need to manage the WCPO tuna fishery for the long term and quickly taking effective action.

“All too often the easy thing to do is sit back and accept ‘business as usual.’ It takes ambition and often courage to stand up and show that there is a better way to do things,” said Steve Trent, Director of the Environmental Justice Foundation and one of six judges who evaluated the nominees.

The eight Pacific island nations that make up the PNA collectively control more than 50 percent of the global supply of skipjack tuna, and together manage the largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery in the world. Pacifical, is the marketing and sales arm of the organization taking care of the region’s MSC certified free school skipjack tuna, with all products carrying the Pacifical logo.

The PNA were nominated for the award by Bubba Cook, who states that he is keen for people to see the confidence he has in the PNA and the work it does.

“PNA has led the charge on several conservation issues when the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission was slow or reluctant to act, and they deserve recognition for those efforts. I’m thrilled that they were awarded the Seafood Champion Award for Vision in 2016 and confident that they will continue to promote further improvements in conservation and management of tuna fisheries in the Pacific!”