ENVIRONMENTAL group Greenpeace on Wednesday named five tuna canneries in Southeast Asia as overall green performers based on their policies on sustainability, transparency and equitability.
These tuna canneries are the Alliance Select Foods International (Philippines), PT International Alliance Foods Indonesia (Indonesia), PT Samudra Mandiri Sentosa (Indonesia), PT Purefoods International (Indonesia) and Tops Supermarket (Thailand).
The five were among 23 canneries and brands from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia that were evaluated by Greenpeace as part of the tuna- ranking assessment made by the environmental group, Ephraim Batungbacal, Regional Oceans Research Coordinator for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement.
“The Sea to Can: 2018 Southeast Asia Canned Tuna Ranking Report” was released by Greenpeace as a result of three years of proactive engagement.
“After three years of proactive engagement, brands and canneries in the region are now more open and collaborative to work with Greenpeace and consumers on fixing their supply chains. But, unfortunately, they are still not transitioning swiftly enough in response to the alarming state of our oceans,” Batungbacal said.
Tuna continues to be the most economically valuable fish in the world. Southeast Asian countries Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are among the top 10 exporters of processed canned tuna, with a combined income of $3.016 billion. A total of $7 billion worth of canned tuna products was exported in 2017, Greenpeace said.
The Greenpeace report comes at a time when tuna stocks globally are experiencing intense pressure from destructive fishing practices and overfishing. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing remains rampant in this part of the world. For this reason, the European Union—one of the biggest importers of tuna from the region—issued a yellow-card sanction against Thailand in 2015 and Vietnam in 2017 for failing to combat IUU, which remains in effect pending these countries’ compliance.
Greenpeace’s tuna rankings evaluate canneries by checking the company’s performance against a seven-point criteria on their tuna sourcing practices.
The companies are strongly encouraged to favor and source tuna from lower-impact fishing methods, including pole and line, handline, troll or Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD) free purse seining.
This year, there were notable improvements in the sector.
Specifically, Greenpeace said more companies now have tighter policies on traceability and sustainability, resulting in increased procurement of sustainably caught tuna, with 11 companies sourcing using pole and line, and 11 companies sourcing FAD-free purse seine.
There is also a heightened awareness of issues on slavery at sea and improved measures to avoid inadvertently sourcing tuna associated with human rights and labor abuse.
Last, consumers now have access to more product information, with improved labeling at the point of sale for the public to identify the species and how tuna is caught.
Greenpeace also noted the constructive dialogue with major tuna companies through regular communication.
However, the report said that despite the notable improvements in the sector, the Philippines and Indonesia continue to catch juvenile Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna at 20 to 50 centimeter in length, usually by a fleet of purse seiners.
If juvenile fishing is not addressed, this will impact the health condition of tuna stocks and the marine ecosystem.
Some canneries also have a “double-standard” approach to product disclosure, exercising more or less stringent rules depending on the country of destination. Greenpeace calls on companies to use the same sourcing standards across the board and make product information available to all consumers regardless of where the product is sold.
“Transparency is key. While we appreciate the constructive dialogue with these regional canneries, we would like to see accountability and responsibility from these regional canneries toward consumers here in Southeast Asia. If they have nothing to hide, then a substantial disclosure about their products is necessary,” Batungbacal added.