Page 11 - Socio-Enviromental Report2017

Socio-Enviromental Report 2017

Against illegal fishing turtles, despite not being the target species of the
fishing expedition become entangled and trapped. For
To combat the phenomenon of illegal fishing, we ask all a FAD to be completely non entangling, it must use no
our suppliers to refrain from any transaction with vessels netting materials either in the surface structure or the
not listed in the register of authorized vessels by the submerged structure. Some organizations also consider
Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO), NEFADs to be those using netting but built to minimize
or not in possession of an identification number issued by entanglement. In this case they are sometimes called
the International Maritime Organization (IMO). ‘lower entanglement risk FADs’.
We guarantee complete traceability of our product. We
do not make purchases from vessels registered by the
EU in the IUU List, preferring rather to source tuna from Bycatch
vessels regularly registered with the RFMOs. To guarantee The incidental capture of fish, also known as bycatch,
maximum traceability of our products and ensure refers to non-targeted marine animals during fishing.
widespread controls across the entire supply chain we Furthermore, the term bycatch also applies to anything
ask our suppliers to refrain from conducting any type of that is caught and then thrown back into the sea,
transaction with boats practicing transshipment, i.e. the including targeted fish that are discarded due to
transfer of fish caught in the open seas, unless specifically undesired quality or size, or anything that is caught and
authorized by the RFMOs or controlled by on-board taken back to port which though destined for a local
observers.
market was not the target of the fishing trip. All fishing
methods have some level of environmental impact and
this impact is often measured in terms of fishing mortality
Our commitment to reducing bycatch
of non-target species. Among the marine species, the
Since 1992, we have endorsed the Dolphin Safe program most frequent victims of bycatch are sharks, rays and sea
instituted by the Earth Island Institute (EII), which has turtles.
reduced Dolphin mortality by as much as 98% to-date.
We ask our suppliers to guarantee that they do not
engage in the practice of shark finning. Additionally, as Support of Protected Marine Areas
outlined in the ISSF’s conservation measures, we have To protect the marine eco-system, we have committed to
pledged to only make purchases from suppliers that use not purchasing fish from either protected marine areas
non-entangling FADs on their vessels, which, as opposed of marine reserves identified by the coastal states or the
to traditional FADs, guarantee a lower risk of bycatch. RFMO’s, including the four marine reserves of the Central-
This commitment is also specified in our Tuna Policy Western Pacific. Furthermore, to protect biodiversity we
which must be signed and respected by all our partners. support the creation of new marine reserves as well as
existing ones, such as the Protected Marine Area of the

Non-entangling FADs: Aegadian Islands, the largest in Europe.
Non-entangling FADs are aggregating devices that
are constructed with no netting material to minimize
‘ghost fishing’, i.e. when fauna, primarily sharks and