FINAL REPORT FOR THE Re-assessment of the Maldives pole & line skipjack tuna fishery Maldives Seafood Processors & Exporters Association (MSPEA) Report No.: 2017-004, Rev. 0 Certificate code: F-DNV-191232: Skipjack tuna Date: 27.09.2017 Report type: Final Report for the DNV GL – Business Assurance Report title: Re-assessment of the Maldives pole & line skipjack tuna fishery DNV GL Business Assurance Customer: Maldives Seafood Processors & Exporters Norway AS Association (MSPEA), Veritasveien 1 M. West End, 3rd Floor 1322 HØVIK, Norway Handhuvaree Higun, Male – 20223 Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 MALDIVES http://www.dnvgl.com Contact person: Ms. Fazla Yoosuf Date of issue: 27.09.2017 Project No.: PRJC-535915-2015-MSC-NOR Organisation unit: ZNENO418 Report No.: 2017-004, Rev.0 Certificate No.: F-DNV-191232: Skipjack tuna Objective: Re-assessment of the Maldives pole & line skipjack tuna fishery against MSC Fisheries Standards v2.0. Prepared by: Verified by: Anna Kiseleva [Name] Senior Assessor [title] Kevin Stokes Team expert Jo Akroyd Team expert Copyright © DNV GL 2014. All rights reserved. This publication or parts thereof may not be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, whether digitally or otherwise without the prior written consent of DNV GL. DNV GL and the Horizon Graphic are trademarks of DNV GL AS. The content of this publication shall be kept confidential by the customer, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Reference to part of this publication which may lead to misinterpretation is prohibited. DNV GL Distribution: Keywords: ☒ Unrestricted distribution (internal and external) MSC Fisheries, skipjack tuna ☐ Unrestricted distribution within DNV GL ☐ Limited distribution within DNV GL after 3 years ☐ No distribution (confidential) ☐ Secret Rev. No. Date Reporting stage Prepared by Verified by 0 2017-05-22 Preliminary Draft Report Anna Kiseleva, Jo Akroyd, Kevin Stokes NA 0 2017-07-03 Peer Review Draft Report Anna Kiseleva, Jo Akroyd, Kevin Stokes NA 0 2017-07-12 Public Comment Draft Report Anna Kiseleva, Jo Akroyd, Kevin Stokes NA 0 2017-09-27 Final Report Anna Kiseleva, Jo Akroyd, Kevin Stokes NA [yyyy-mm-dd] Public Certification Report DNV GL – Report No. 2017-004, Rev. 0 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.0 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page i Table of contents ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................... 4 STOCK ASSESSMENT REFERENCE POINTS ...................................................................................... 5 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Authorship and Peer reviewers 6 1.2 Re-assessment timeline 6 1.3 Principle level scores 7 1.4 Main strengths and weaknesses of the client’s operation 7 1.5 Draft Determination with supporting rationale 7 1.6 Conditions for certification and time-scale for compliance 7 2 AUTHORSHIP AND PEER REVIEWERS ................................................................................ 9 2.1 Assessment team 9 2.2 Peer reviewers 11 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERY ...................................................................................... 13 3.1 Unit(s) of Assessment (UoA) and scope of certification sought 13 3.1.3 Proposed Unit of Certification 13 3.1.4 Other eligible fishers at the start of the certificate (prior to any certificate sharing) 14 3.1.5 Final UoC(s) 14 3.1.6 Final other eligible fishers at the time of certification 15 3.1.7 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Catch Data 15 3.1.8 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Enhanced Fisheries 15 3.1.9 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Introduced Species Based Fisheries (ISBF) 15 3.2 Overview of the fishery 15 3.3 Principle One: Target Species Background 17 3.4 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background 24 3.5 Principle Three: Management System Background 32 4 EVALUATION PROCEDURE.............................................................................................. 41 4.1 Harmonised Fishery Assessment 41 4.2 Previous assessments 41 4.2.1 Summary of the original assessment 41 4.2.2 First annual surveillance and Expedited Principle 1 assessment for Yellowfin tuna – 2013 42 4.2.3 Second annual surveillance – 2014 42 4.2.4 Third annual surveillance – 2015/2016 43 4.2.5 Fourth annual surveillance – 2016/2017 46 4.3 Assessment Methodologies 54 4.4 Evaluation Processes and Techniques 55 5 TRACEABILITY .............................................................................................................. 59 5.1 Eligibility Date 59 5.2 Traceability within the Fishery 59 5.3 Processing on board 59 DNV GL – Report No. 2017-004, Rev. 0 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.0 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page ii 5.4 Points of landing 59 5.5 Traceability risk factors 60 5.6 Eligibility to Enter Further Chains of Custody 61 5.7 Eligibility of Inseparable or Practicably Inseparable (IPI) stock(s) to Enter Further Chains of Custody 61 6 EVALUATION RESULTS .................................................................................................. 62 6.1 Principle Level Scores 62 6.2 Summary of PI Level Scores 62 6.3 Summary of Conditions 63 6.4 Determination, Formal Conclusion and Agreement 63 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 64 APPENDIX 1 SCORING AND RATIONALES ...................................................................................... 66 Appendix 1.1 Performance Indicator Scores and Rationale 66 Appendix 1.2 Risk Based Framework (RBF) Outputs 158 Appendix 1.3 Conditions 171 APPENDIX 2 PEER REVIEW REPORTS .......................................................................................... 174 APPENDIX 3 STAKEHOLDER SUBMISSIONS ................................................................................. 198 APPENDIX 4 SURVEILLANCE FREQUENCY .................................................................................... 219 APPENDIX 5 OBJECTIONS PROCESS ........................................................................................... 220 DNV GL – Report No. 2017-004, Rev. 0 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.0 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page iii ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CC Compliance Committee of the IOTC CCRF Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora CMM Conservation Management Measures of the IOTC CP Contracting Parties of the IOTC EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EPA Environmental Protection Agency ETP Endangered, threatened and protected species FAB Fisheries Advisory Board FAO Food and Agriculture Organization IO Indian Ocean IOTC Indian Ocean Tuna Commission IUU Illegal, unreported and unregulated LOS Law of the Sea MCS Monitoring, Control and Surveillance MIFCO Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company Limited MNDF Maldives National Defence Force MoFA Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture MRC Marine Research Centre MSC Marine Stewardship Council MSPEA Maldives Seafood Processors and Exporters Association NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NCP Non- contracting parties NPOA National Plan of Action P&L Pole and Line PI Performance indicator PISG Performance Indicator Scoring Guidepost PRIOTCO1 Performance review of the IOTC – report 1 PRIOTCO2 Performance review of the IOTC – report 2 RFMO Regional Fisheries Management Organisation SC Scientific Committee SG Scoring Guidepost TAC Total allowable catch UoA Unit of Assessment VME Vulnerable marine ecosystems DNV GL – Report No. 2017-004, Rev. 0 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.0 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page 4 STOCK ASSESSMENT REFERENCE POINTS B0 The (spawning) biomass expected if there had been no fishing (assuming recruitment as estimated through stock assessment). Blim Spawning biomass limit reference point, sometimes used as a trigger within harvest control rules, or defined as the point below which recruitment is expected to be impaired or the stock dynamics are unknown Bmsy Spawning Biomass at which the maximum sustainable yield is expected (sometimes expressed as SBmsy) Btarg Spawning biomass target reference point Flim Exploitation rate limit reference point, often taken as Fmsy based on UNFSA Fmsy Fishing mortality rate associated with the achieving maximum sustainable yield Ftarg Fishing mortality target reference point MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield DNV GL – Report No. 2017-004, Rev. 0 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.0 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page 5 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides information on the re-assessment of the Maldives pole & line skipjack tuna fishery against Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. The report is prepared by DNV GL for the client organization Maldives Seafood Processors & Exporters Association (MSPEA). The Maldives pole & line skipjack tuna fishery received its original certificate on 29 November 2012 (Certificate number: F-DNV-191232, valid until 28 November 2017). The re-assessment was announced on the MSC website 8 November 2016 followed by a supporting notice to stakeholders issued by the MSC on the same date. Direct email notification was also sent to the stakeholders previously identified for this fishery, inviting interested parties to contact the