It's a first. The MSC organization, which issues a sustainable fishing label, recently certified a bluefin tuna fishery in the East Atlantic. The Japanese company holds 0.2% of bluefin tuna fishing quotas.
"This is the story of a fishery that has managed to recover," said Jean-Charles Pentecouteau, director of MSC France, in a statement. “The eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna was once endangered and today we can say that it is sustainable. "
A "dangerous trend" according to NGOs
Bluefin tuna, much appreciated by gourmets and lovers of Japanese food, has been the victim of overfishing for decades in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The fishing world reacted drastically when one of the three species caught was almost added to the UN's endangered species list. Drastic fishing quotas and protective measures have been adopted, allowing fish stocks to rebuild.
WWF, which co-created MSC, disagrees. This decision is "the alarming illustration [...] the MSC has become a label responding more to the demand of the fishing industry than to scientific evidence of sustainability," said an official in a statement. The NGO is worried about a "dangerous trend, likely to threaten the full recovery of bluefin tuna and […] the restoration of the state of the oceans by 2030".
For the NGO Pew Trusts, this certification comes as "scientists are unable to confirm that the stock [of bluefin tuna] has recovered from years of unsustainable and illegal fishing." According to activists, there is "an overcapacity of bluefin tuna fisheries in the Mediterranean which could lead again to overfishing".
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