Updated on 1 November 2016
Global campaigns for sustainable tuna fishing have called for a ban on the use of Fish Aggregating Devices – also known as FADs. However, ‘FAD’ does not always mean ‘bad’. The impacts of this fishing practice need to be considered in the context of that particular fishery and ecosystem.
Thanks to the support of the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF) two MSC certified sustainable fisheries are learning from each other in a unique exchange.
Throughout September 2014, two aspiring pole and line skipjack tuna fishers from the Maldives are putting their burgeoning skills to the test off the coast of Washington State. Moosa Shahudan and Yaman Abdulla from the Fishermen’s Community and Training Centre (FCTC) are working with peers aboard the vessel Royal Dawn, part of the American Albacore Fishing Association (AAFA).
From Scotland to Switzerland, European families regularly enjoy tuna caught in the Maldives, hooked by the centuries-old fishing method of pole and line. In the UK, for example, most of the tinned MSC certified tuna you find in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s is Maldivian skipjack. In the Maldives, fishing is not just an industry, it’s a way of life. After tourism, tuna is the country’s major source of income and its primary export.
