The environmental NGO community has long been a staunch and vocal advocate for more sustainable practices by the global fishing industry. More recently, the NGO community has made strides in harmonizing their priorities to more effectively support willing market and supply chain companies to adopt new or stronger policy commitments to advance sustainable tuna fisheries.

With aligned priorities and policies in place, now is the time for a new phase of stakeholder engagement. NGOs working with market and supply chain companies are poised to demonstrate verifiable progress against those promises. Industry leaders engaged in tuna processing, sourcing, and buying recognize the value of accountability and transparency to accelerate sustainability and meet heightened public expectations. For tuna fisheries, a vital, global food source, economic engine, and valuable marine species, there isn’t a moment to lose. 

Can global stakeholders rise to the challenge? 

This session shares perspectives from various sectors of the tuna sustainability space on existing market commitments and how these are measured and publicly reported, including presenters from the Global Tuna Alliance and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, as well as representatives from the NGO and retailer communities. Mr. Robin Teets of the NGO Tuna Forum will also share an aligned market commitment verification initiative supported by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, that is being trialed by the GTA & ISSF. This initiative seeks to raise the bar in terms of sustainability commitments reporting that leads to verified actions and positive impacts.