New CEO for the PNA Office

The time has come to say farewell to a highly appreciated member of our Pacifical family; Dr. Transform Aqorau. After six very productive years as the CEO of the PNA office, Dr. Aqorau is stepping down.

Responsible for a vast, pristine and sustainably managed body of water in the WCPO, the world’s largest MSC certified tuna purse seine fishery, and 50 percent of global skipjack stocks, Dr. Aqorau’s management record can only be worthy of high recognition. During his administration the revenue to the eight PNA island nations increased from USD 60 million in 2010 to an estimated USD 400 million last year. Thank you for your hard work and contribution. Dr. Aqorau, you will certainly be missed!

PNA officials have offered PNG NFA Deputy Managing Director, Ludwig Kumoru the position of CEO of the PNA office. We will keep you posted on this.

May 2nd: Celebrate World Tuna Day!

A day of joy in the Pacific; we are now counting down the days to celebrate and honor the existence of tuna in our daily lives. Tuna species play a key role in our existence, ecosystem, economy and national income.

On May 2nd all national PNA citizens of Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands or Tuvalu have the opportunity to win several awards by sharing their talent and telling the story behind the wonders of tuna and tuna fishing. We are excited to share the results of the PNA World Tuna Day art & talent quest with you. So stay tuned!

Don’t forget to join the discussion about tuna from today until May 2nd on Twitter #worldtunaday

Join us at the Global Seafood Expo 2016

We would love to see you at the upcoming Global Seafood Exposition beginning April 26th in Brussels. Please stop by to meet our team or just say hello. We will be at the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority Stand: Stand #8- 4461.

The event will provide a great opportunity to drink a coffee together and catch up on Pacifical MSC certified free school skipjack and yellowfin tuna, discuss business, bring you up to speed with our latest developments, and talk about what Pacifical can offer you.

Bumble Bee Announces Partnership with Pacifical

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bumble Bee Seafoods, North America’s premium seafood company, has signed an agreement with Pacifical to purchase and promote MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified tuna coming from eight member countries of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) in the Western Central Pacific Ocean. Those eight countries set up the Pacifical organization in 2011 to promote and actively trade sustainably caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna to consumers around the world.

“This partnership further demonstrates our commitment to sustainability, transparency and delivering high-quality, safe and nutritious seafood to consumers.”

“The long-term sustainability of the world’s oceans is critical to the long-term viability of our business,” said Chris Lischewski, Bumble Bee president and CEO. “About 25% of the global catch of tuna comes from this region and we’re proud to partner with Pacifical to raise additional awareness of their commitment to social accountability, food safety and traceability.”

The island nations who established Pacifical include the Federal States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. The leaders of these countries wanted to combine resources and expertise to ensure sustainable fishing, create employment opportunities for their people and to ensure a fair economic return on their main natural resource, which is tuna.

“We bear the responsibility of ensuring the sustainability of our tuna stocks for the future of our people and our children and as an important food source for the world’s population,” said Maurice Brownjohn, PNA Commercial Director. “We look forward to working with Bumble Bee as well as restaurants and retailers around the world to increase the supply of MSC labelled sustainable tuna.”

Mr. Brownjohn said the Marine Stewardship Council independent certification process is the most rigorous and robust offered globally. “The Pacifical nations wanted to meet that standard to assure people we are achieving the highest levels of sustainability possible when it comes to fishing in our waters.” More information on the MSC process can be found at www.msc.org.

As part of the business agreement, Pacifical will provide Bumble Bee with 100% traceability to all MSC certified products. This will include tracing product to vessel name, captain name, fishing method and catching period.

“We know people want to purchase sustainable products and we also know they want to know where their food is coming from,” said Lischewski. “This partnership further demonstrates our commitment to sustainability, transparency and delivering high-quality, safe and nutritious seafood to consumers.”

About Bumble Bee Seafoods

Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, headquartered in San Diego, is North America’s largest branded shelf-stable seafood company, offering a full line of canned and pouched tuna, salmon, sardine and specialty protein products marketed in the U.S. under leading brands including Bumble Bee®, Brunswick®, Snow’s®, Wild Selections® and Beach Cliff®, and in Canada under the Clover Leaf® brand. The company also produces premium fresh frozen seafood under the Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ line. Bumble Bee SuperFresh™ seafood is cleaned, cut and fresh frozen within hours, then chef prepared with high-quality all natural ingredients.

Bumble Bee’s mission is to provide healthy and nutritious products and meal solutions that are sourced sustainably. Bumble Bee is also a founding member of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation — a first-of-kind initiative in the U.S. involving a coalition of retailers, non-profit organizations and food and beverage manufacturers with a mission to help reduce obesity, particularly childhood obesity. The company actively promotes the responsible stewardship of global fisheries resources and is a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) — a global partnership of scientists, tuna processors and WWF, the global conservation organization.

Palau Says Goodbye To The Man Who Protected Its…

At the age of 69 years, Stuart. J. Beck, also named Palau’s UN envoy for oceans and seas, has passed away after suffering with renal cancer. The PNA nation now says goodbye to the man that spearheaded its successful campaign to phase out commercial fishing in the country’s waters.

Born in Bronxville, New York, Beck didn’t just go on to become the UN ambassador for the remote Western Pacific island nation of Palau, after persuading the county to claim a seat in the General Assembly, but he also become an honorary citizen, after meeting his wife Tulik there in 1976.

With Beck as its voice, Palau then went on to become a strong ally of the US, and was termed the Pacific country’s envoy for oceans and seas. He also led the nation’s successful campaign to ban commercial shark fishing and bottom trawling, as well as export fishing, mining and drilling, in the majority of its 230,000 square mile EEZ.

The extent of these efforts are put into perspective when noting that thanks to Beck, a nation the size of Philadelphia took responsibility for the ocean environment across an ocean area the size of France. Beck not only leaves his wife behind, but also their three children and two grandchildren.

His first trip to Palau, the country which later became his home was for the purpose of studying the potential environmental impact that a proposed petroleum superport could have on coral reefs.

He was then enlisted to guide the island to sovereignty after a century of Spanish, German, Japanese and American jurisdiction, a challenge which he is said to have relished. The country gained its independence in 1995.

Join Us at the Boston Seafood Show

Our Pacifical team is excited to announce its attendance to the upcoming Boston Seafood Exposition beginning March 6th 2016!

We will have our own meeting space within the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority Booth #3086.

Please stop by to introduce yourself and meet our team. This would be a great opportunity to get together to catch up on MSC sustainable free school tuna caught in the waters of the PNA, discuss business, bring you up to speed with our latest developments and talk over what Pacifical can offer you!

Pacifical and PNA Secure MSC Certification for Yellowfin Tuna

Yellowfin caught by the PNA Western and Central Pacific free school purse seine fishery is now eligible to carry the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabel. The sales and marketing of the PNA MSC certified yellowfin tuna will be done through the PNA global marketing company for its MSC certified tuna, Pacifical.

The Parties of the Nauru Agreement (PNA) is the first major free school purse seine yellowfin tuna fishery to achieve MSC certification. The certified fishery catches around 140,000 tonnes of yellowfin tuna a year, accounting for half of all yellowfin caught within PNA waters.

“Healthy tuna populations are essential for both the environment and fishing economies,” says Nicolas Guichoux, Global Commercial Director at the Marine Stewardship Council.”The MSC Fisheries Standard provides a robust set of requirements to assess the sustainability of tuna fisheries. By achieving this Standard, the PNA has shown a huge commitment to securing a sustainable future for its oceans and fishing industry.”

“This is a very progressive step for the tuna industry,” says Mr. Maurice Brownjohn, PNA Commercial Director. “The PNA looks forward to working with brands, restaurants and retailers to increase the supply of MSC labelled sustainable tuna. PNA tuna sold with the MSC ecolabel also carries the Pacifical logo in clear representation of the end market’s commitment to the PNA island nations as custodians and protectors of a truly valuable marine resource throughout centuries and the generations to come.”

Meeting the robust requirements of the MSC Fisheries Standard means that yellowfin stocks are being fished sustainably and in a way which maintains a healthy, thriving marine environment.

This certification follows an expedited assessment by SCS Global Services of yellowfin caught by the already-certified PNA skipjack fishery,. This means that the strict requirements already in place for skipjack are now extended to include catches of yellowfin, including yellowfin tuna found in free school skipjack sets. The MSC Chain of Custody Standard requires that free swimming MSC certified catch is segregated from FAD associated catch, which is not certified.

The same conditions and validity period of the MSC certificate for the PNA free school skipjack will apply for yellowfin. The current certificate is valid until December 2016. To remain certified after this date the fishery will need to be reassessed to the MSC Fisheries Standard. “The PNA will undertake all necessary measures to ensure that next year’s reassessment is successful,” concludes Mr. Maurice Brownjohn.

Pacifical MSC certified tuna is now available in 12 different countries around the world. This includes Australia, where the leading brand, John West, announced just yesterday its strong brand commitment and cooperation with Pacifical MSC certified tuna to bring MSC certified skipjack tuna to the country’s shelves. Australian consumers will now have access to over 100 million cans of MSC certified tuna, sustainably sourced, free-school tuna, the largest offering of MSC tuna ever in the world.

It is expected that the increased future supply of MSC certified yellowfin could lead to more demand for this premium sustainably caught tuna from buyers in Italy, France and Spain, and not only from the canned segment, but also the frozen tuna market.

John West, WWF And MSC United For Sustainable Oceans

MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 3, 2016 /MANGO/ — Imagine a world without fish: John West Australia, WWF-Australia (WWF) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), today announce that they have come together to make the single biggest brand commitment, to help end unsustainable fishing methods within the canned tuna industry in Australia, thanks to Pacifical, supplied by the world’s largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery, controlled by the PNA (Parties to the Nauru Agreement).

The alliance with WWF, Pacifical and MSC is the result of years of the entities working together to find a way to overhaul John West’s supply standards within Australia, moving towards a more sustainable future for the world’s oceans.

WWF Australia CEO, Dermot O’Gorman, says, “Our oceans are in crisis due to a history of mismanagement by humanity. As a result of a collaborative effort by WWF, Pacifical, MSC and John West, Australians will now see over 100 million cans of clearly labelled Pacifical MSC certified sustainably sourced tuna in supermarkets. The magnitude of this – affecting a huge 43% of Australia’s canned tuna – makes this a world first. Sustainability in Australia has just taken a mighty step forward thanks to the leadership of John West Australia.”

“MSC is the world’s most credible sustainability standard for wild caught fish, a process which requires independent third party auditors to evaluate a fishery’s performance against the most robust sustainability standards available globally”, O’Gorman said. 

The MSC certified skipjack tuna is being sourced from the world’s largest sustainable purse seine fishery Pacifical, controlled by the PNA (Parties to the Nauru Agreement). The 8 Pacific Island nations united within the PNA are world leaders in tuna conservation and management with many global firsts such as high seas closures to fishing, observers on 100% of purse seine fishing vessels, fishing day restrictions and the certification of its FAD-Free purse seine skipjack as MSC Sustainable in 2011. 50% of the world’s supply of skipjack tuna is controlled by PNA.

Populations of fish species utilised by humans have fallen by half, however Australia’s leading tuna brand is confident its position will aid in bringing awareness to the issue on a global scale. 

John West Executive Director – Commercial, Graham Dugdale, says, “In 2012, we pledged that by the end of 2015, John West Australia would only source purse seine caught skipjack tuna caught using independently verified FADFree methods. After three years of extensive research, close collaboration with our supply network, Pacifical, MSC and WWF, I am proud to announce that this target has been met and exceeded. Not only are we sourcing FAD free but we have made sure it is MSC certified sustainable and completely traceable from ocean to can.” 

MSC Asia Pacific Director, Patrick Caleo, says, “This is the largest offering of MSC labelled canned tuna in the world. 

By completely transforming their supply chain to source from the MSC certified PNA fishery, John West is leading the way to help ensure our oceans stay healthy and teeming with life for generations to come. We are proud to be alongside John West as they make this significant change and congratulate them on this monumental move to help keep our oceans healthy.”

“Our commitment extends much further and aims not only to educate, but also ingrain this perspective. We must position ocean sustainability as the ‘norm’ and only option moving forward,” says Dugdale. 

Henk Brus, Managing Director of Pacifical and Maurice Brownjohn, Commercial Director of the PNA office jointly state, “We congratulate John West for their commitment and decision to become actively and intensively involved in the trade of their sustainable MSC certified Pacifical Wild Tuna. Safeguarding that this fish is caught in the most responsible, social accountable and ethical way, and ensuring local PNA people benefit to the maximum extend from their own valuable resource, their principal source of income.”

2016 will see John West, WWF, Pacifical and MSC continue to lead this groundbreaking movement to ensure our oceans are healthy, forever.

PNA Wins Global Award For Vision On Tuna Sustainability

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!”

McDonald’s to Include Pacifical MSC Tuna in their Menu

Following a global commitment to sustainable fishing practices, McDonald’s Spain will be the first restaurant chain to include Pacifical skipjack tuna certified by the Marine Stewardship Council on their national menu. By January 2016, more than 490 restaurants will be offering MSC certified tuna in their “Tuna Mediterranean Salad”.

“At McDonald’s we have a goal to source all of our food and packaging from sustainable sources. As part of this, since 2013 all the white fish we serve in our restaurants globally in our Filet-o-fish sandwiches is sourced from MSC certified fisheries. In Spain, we are very proud to announce that the skipjack tuna, which we serve as part of our salad range, is now also MSC certified”, says Ignacio Blanco-Traba, Sr. Director Sustainable Sourcing at McDonald’s Corporation.

Pacifical, the marketing and sales organization for the PNA MSC certified tuna is supplying Frinsa del Noroeste, a leading European tuna processor located in Spain. McDonald’s MSC certified skipjack tuna is being caught in the waters of PNA nations in the Western Central Pacific Ocean. The fish is cooked and cleaned in a local Pacific-based processing facility, generating work and income to over one thousand local families. The MSC certified tuna is later transported to Spain, the largest fish processing nation in Europe, to be packed and delivered to McDonald’s.

“We congratulate McDonald’s for highlighting the importance of sustainable catching methods and taking a leading step within the fast food industry,” says Henk Brus, Managing Director of Pacifical. “Thanks to their commitment, millions of Spanish consumers will enjoy sustainably caught tuna and support the livelihoods of thousands of Pacific island families whose lives depend largely on tuna”.

Pacifical tuna is from nets set only on free swimming schools of adult skipjack tuna. Fishing on free schools reduces bycatch to the lowest level and ensures that the tuna caught is predominately of mature size. This means that bycatch of unwanted species and juvenile tuna is largely eliminated. Independent MSC trained onboard observers monitor and record all fishing operations according to the strictest MSC chain of custody (COC) standards. Our COC ensures that the fish was caught in a sustainable way and never mixed in with fish caught on FADs, or any other non-sustainable fishing method. Around 40% of the world supply of skipjack comes from the waters of the PNA, which makes the Pacific island nations the single most important source of raw material for the global tuna industry.

“In accordance with our sustainability policy, Frinsa favors the acquisition of tuna catches caught by environmentally friendly fishing methods, reducing bycatch of untargeted species and negative impacts on the overall ocean ecosystem”, says José Aller, Frinsa’s Head of Sustainability. “One of our principles is to guarantee the total traceability and chain of custody, from sea to plate.”

“In 2011 McDonald’s became a game changer in the white fish sector, with the announcement to source exclusively from fisheries that have met the rigorous MSC standard for environmental sustainability. This new commitment by McDonald’s Spain to introduce MSC certified tuna, is a strong positive signal for tuna fisheries that are working towards sustainability and recognition of the top performance of the PNA nations. I am delighted that millions of Iberian consumers will be able to enjoy McDonald’s salads with one of their favorite fish species, knowing that they are making a responsible choice” says Laura Rodríguez Zugasti, Program Director of Marine Stewardship Council in Spain and Portugal.