Tuna vessels declare war on illegal fishing

An association of tuna companies in Bermeo has launched an ideas contest in which it offers 10,000 euros to the best proposal to minimize illegal fishing and labor abuses in the tuna fishing sector, one of the main hallmarks of the sector of Basque fishing.

 The initiative has come from the Bermeo Tuna World Capital Association (BTWC), which will convene in January 2022 the new InnovaTUNA contest with the aim of "finding innovative solutions to minimize illegal fishing" of tuna, reported yesterday. Basque food fishing technology institute, Azti, which collaborates with this association.

 The tuna companies estimate that 15% of the fish entering Europe (between 11 and 26 million tonnes) comes from illegal practices, causing millions of dollars in annual losses to the world economy estimated at between 10 and 23.5 billion US dollars.

Furthermore, the association points out that "there is a close relationship between IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing practices and human rights abuses."

“As in other sectors, it is necessary for people who work at sea to do so under decent social and labor standards that guarantee inclusion and equality, as well as respect for human rights and safe and decent working conditions”, Ignacio Serrats, president of the Bermeo Tuna World Capital Association, explained yesterday.

However, seafarers and fishermen are often forced to work in conditions that would be unacceptable in any other industry," Serrats said.

The objective of the contest is to promote new solutions and business models that generate a positive social, economic and environmental impact and that can be applied by the tuna value chain.