Princes has announced that it intends to reduce its sourcing of Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna at Princes Tuna Mauritius (PTM) by 50% - over 16,000 tonnes - between 2017 and 2022. This is a bold move that goes beyond the commitments of other brands and processors, demonstrating our commitment to fish sustainability.
Princes has been working to develop alternative sources of yellowfin since 2017 and has already achieved a 40% reduction meaning that Princes usage of Indian Ocean yellowfin currently accounts for less than 5% of the total Indian Ocean catch.
We hope that our voluntary cut to 50% by 2022 will send a clear signal to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) and its member states that action and leadership is required in order to protect the long term sustainability of Indian Ocean tuna. As you may know, Indian Ocean yellowfin is overfished and requires urgent action to reverse this. Princes, as a member of the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA), fully supports its call for the IOTC to deliver a 25% reduction in yellowfin catches at its annual meeting in November.
Princes continues its work to support the Sustainable Indian Ocean Tuna Initiative (SIOTI) where the purse seine vessels in our Indian Ocean supply chain are involved in a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) with the aim of being able to enter into MSC assessment. The FIP remains ‘A’ Rated on the fisheryprogress website: https://fisheryprogress.org/fip-profile/indian-ocean-tuna-purse-seine-sioti