Unassociated Purse Seine Fishery for Skipjack and Yellowfin Tuna from Western and Central

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Unassociated Purse Seine Fishery for Skipjack and Yellowfin Tuna from Western and Central SCS Global Services Report Unassociated Purse Seine Fishery for Skipjack and Yellowfin Tuna from Western and Central Pacific Ocean by Tri Marine International (PTE) MSC Full Assessment: Final Report Prepared for Tri Marine International PTE 10500 N.E. 8th Street Suite 1888 Bellevue, WA 98004 USA Client contact: Matt Owens www.trimarinegroup.com DATE OF FIELD AUDIT February 23-27, 2015 Prepared by: Mr. Alexander Morison, Team Leader, Principle 1 and Principle 2 Mr. Kevin McLoughlin, Principle 2 and Principle 3 Sustainable Seafood Program +1.510.452.6392 [email protected] 2000 Powell Street, Ste. 600, Emeryville, CA 94608 USA +1.510.452.8000 main | +1.510-452-8001 fax www.SCSGlobalServices.com SCSglobalservices.com Contents Contents..................................................................................................................................ii Glossary ................................................................................................................................. iv 1. Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... 6 2. Authorship and Peer Reviewers ......................................................................................... 8 Audit Team ...................................................................................................................... 8 Peer Reviewers ................................................................................................................ 9 3. Description of the Fishery ................................................................................................ 10 3.1 Unit(s) of Certification and scope of certification sought .......................................... 10 3.1.1 Units of Assessment (UoA) and Proposed Unit of Certification (UoC) ............................ 11 3.1.2 Final UoC(s) – Public Certification Report (PCR) .................................................... 13 3.1.3 Catch and Effort Data........................................................................................ 14 3.1.4 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Enhanced Fisheries ........................................ 17 3.1.5 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Introduced Species Based Fisheries (ISBF) ........ 17 3.2 Overview of the fishery ........................................................................................ 17 3.3 Principle One: Target Species Background .............................................................. 25 3.4 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background .................................................................... 50 3.5 Principle Three: Management System Background .................................................. 81 4. Evaluation Procedure .................................................................................................... 112 4.1 Harmonised Fishery Assessment .......................................................................... 112 4.2 Previous assessments ......................................................................................... 113 4.3 Assessment Methodologies ................................................................................ 113 4.4 Evaluation Processes and Techniques ................................................................... 114 4.4.1 Site Visit ........................................................................................................ 114 4.4.2 Consultations ................................................................................................. 115 4.4.3 Evaluation Techniques .................................................................................... 116 5 Traceability .................................................................................................................. 118 5.1 Eligibility Date ................................................................................................... 118 5.2 Traceability ....................................................................................................... 118 5.3 Eligibility to Enter Further Chains of Custody ......................................................... 121 5.4 Eligibility of Inseparable or Practically Inseparable (IPI) stock(s) to Enter Further Chains of Custody ................................................................................................................... 122 6 Evaluation Results ........................................................................................................ 123 6.1 Principle Level Scores ......................................................................................... 123 6.2 Summary of Scores ............................................................................................ 123 6.3 Summary of Conditions ...................................................................................... 124 Document: MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V1.3 page ii Date of issue: 15 January 2013 © Marine Stewardship Council, 2013 Version 1-3 (October 2013) | © SCS Global Services 6.3.1 Recommendations ......................................................................................... 124 6.4 Determination, Formal Conclusion and Agreement ................................................ 124 (REQUIRED FOR PCR) ........................................................................................................ 125 References ......................................................................................................................... 126 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 134 Appendix 1 Scoring and Rationales ........................................................................................ 134 Appendix 1.1 Performance Indicator Scores and Rationale .............................................. 134 Principle 1 – Skipjack tuna ............................................................................................. 134 Principle 1 - Yellowfin tuna ............................................................................................ 152 Principle 2 ................................................................................................................... 174 Principle 3 ................................................................................................................... 205 Appendix 1.3 Conditions ................................................................................................... 234 National Marine Fisheries Letter of Support .................................................................... 241 Appendix 2. Peer Review Reports .......................................................................................... 243 Appendix 3. Stakeholder Submissions .................................................................................... 289 Stakeholder Responses to the Public Comment Draft Report ............................................. 291 MSC Technical Oversight Report and Assessment Team Responses .................................... 334 Appendix 4. Surveillance Frequency ....................................................................................... 338 (REQUIRED FOR THE PCR ONLY) ......................................................................................... 338 Appendix 5. Client Agreement............................................................................................... 339 (REQUIRED FOR PCR) ........................................................................................................ 339 Appendix 6 Objections Process ............................................................................................. 340 (REQUIRED FOR THE PCR IN ASSESSMENTS WHERE AN OBJECTION WAS RAISED AND ACCEPTED BY AN INDEPENDENT ADJUDICATOR) ...................................................................................... 340 Appendix 7 Variation Request and Response: Unit of Assessment ............................................. 341 Appendix 8: Variation Request and Response: Silky Shark Scoring ............................................. 346 Document: MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V1.3 page iii Date of issue: 15 January 2013 © Marine Stewardship Council, 2013 Version 1-3 (October 2013) | © SCS Global Services Glossary B Biomass Bcurrent Average total biomass for recent years BMSY Biomass at MSY C, Clatest Catch, Latest catch CCM WCPFC Commission Members, Cooperating Non-Members and Participating Territories are termed CCMs CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CMM Conservation and Management Measure CoC Chain of Custody CPUE Catch per Unit Effort EAFM Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone ELAPS Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine (applies to U.S. vessels) ERA Ecological Risk Assessment EU European Union ETP Endangered, Threatened or Protected F Fishing mortality FAD Fish Aggregating Device Fcurrent Average fishing mortality-at-age for recent years FFA Forum Fisheries Agency FEP Fishery Ecosystem Plan FL Fork length FLIM Fishing Mortality Limit Reference Point FMSY Fishing Mortality at MSY FMP Fisheries Management Plan FSM Federated States of Micronesia HCR Harvest Control Rule HTMC Harmonized Minimum Terms and Conditions IATTC Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission IFIMS Industry Fisheries Information Management System (for PNA) IPOA International Plan of Action ISC International Scientific
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