IPNLF's mission is to improve the standard of living for socially and economically disadvantaged fishing communities around the world

Introducing the International Pole & Line Foundation

A new organisation has been launched to ensure the fast growing demand for pole-and-line caught tuna can be met without compromising the sustainability of the fisheries, while at the same time providing much-needed support for fishing communities who are heavily reliant upon these stocks.

The not-for-profit International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF) was founded to help pole-and-line fisheries increase the market share of their product. Despite being regarded as the most sustainable method of catching tuna, most pole-and-line fisheries are small scale and are increasingly finding it difficult to survive in an industry that is dominated by heavy industrial fishing. Fishermen, such as those in the small island states in the Indian Ocean and the Asia Pacific region, have seen their local resources diminish and their livelihoods put under immense pressure in recent years.

The objective of the foundation is to help develop sustainable and equitable pole-and-line fisheries and to increase the market share of sustainably and equitably caught pole and line tuna (Photo: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace)

IPNLF believes these fisheries can be rehabilitated back to health and entire fishing communities strengthened by increasing the market potential of their tuna caught using the traditional pole-and-line method. The Foundation’s view is that this requires minor capital investment and would provide much-needed employment opportunities as pole-and-line fishing is more labour-intensive than large-scale industrial fishing.

Andrew Bassford, IPNLF co-founder, said: “The global market demand for pole-and-line caught tuna is soaring as a direct result of environmental organisations increasing consumer awareness of sustainability issues. Unfortunately, many small fisheries often lack the knowledge and infrastructure to gain access to the global market. Therefore, adequate co-ordination of the market development of sustainable and equitable pole-and-line tuna is not just an opportunity, it has now become a necessity. If there is no proper management determining how the supply can be increased in a sustainable way, the increased demand will surely add to the problem of overcapacity in tuna fisheries.

One hook, one man, one fish (Photo: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace)

“Until now there hasn’t been an institution to ensure good co-ordination; there has also been no-one improving bait fishery management, safety at sea, fuel efficiency and so on. The IPNLF will fill this much needed void. We will bridge the gap between demand and supply and all revenue generated will directly contribute to research and capacity building.”

IPNLF believes the logical starting points for its work are the Maldives and Indonesia – two extremely important tuna producing regions. The Foundation has already opened a branch office in the Maldives and another will be opened in Indonesia in 2013. It will then expand its work to Brazil, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, Mozambique, Philippines, Senegal, India, United States, southern Europe and small island states in the Pacific region.

Many coastal communities around the world rely heavily on fishing for their llivelihoods  (Photo: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace)

The Foundation expects the demand for pole-and-line tuna will continue to grow and will mainly come from the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Nordic countries and increasingly Australia, New Zealand, Japan and North America, where retailers are progressively committing to switching seafood procurement to more sustainable alternatives.

The commercial benefit for brands and retailers to support IPNLF and pole-and-line fishing is that they will be able to better manage their brand security and development by gaining access to these sustainable tuna resources. IPNLF will help these commercial stakeholders work together with these regions and fishing communities on establishing a product that meets their consumer requirements as well as their own seafood category growth expectations.

Most of these fisheries, for example in the small island states in the Asian Pacific region, are small scale and struggle for survival (Photo: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace)

And the benefit for the evermore environmentally-informed end-consumer is that they will be given the choice to buy safe, sustainable products that contribute to improving the health of marine ecosystems as well as the livelihoods of struggling fishing communities.

Dr Shiham Adam, the Director General of the Marine Research Centre in the Maldives and one of the founding members of the IPNLF, said: “The Maldives has a long and proud history of fishing for tuna with pole-and-line. Tuna fishing is part and parcel of our lives and this wonderful, natural resource is of huge importance to our economy, but beyond that it is vital to the survival of so many of our fishing communities. It’s a sad fact that our pole-and-line fishermen’s livelihoods are at risk but the International Pole & Line Foundation has identified ways in which we can add value to our traditional catch."

“Having one of the Foundation’s offices here in the Maldives has already given our fishermen and the industry a big lift. There is a lot of work to be done but at last there is hope that long-term viability of our traditional method of fishing can be achieved", Dr Shiham Adam added.

IPNLF has ambitious plans that it is convinced will generate much needed support for these traditional fisheries and it will be making a number of important announcements in the near future. In the meantime, representatives from the Foundation will be at the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels, Belgium, 24-26 April, and the 12th INFOFISH World Tuna Trade & Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, 23-25 May.

About the International Pole & Line Foundation IPNLF

The global market demand for pole & line caught tuna is increasing (Photo: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace)

IPNLF is officially registered in the United Kingdom. It also has a branch office in the Maldives and will be opening a second office in Indonesia in 2013. The Foundation will set up country branches wherever it is operating to offer local knowledge, expertise and a go-to desk for support with development.

The founding Group of Trustees brings expertise from around the globe. New trustees will be invited to join annually as the IPNLF expands to incorporate new regions. Meanwhile, the scientific committee will meet at least annually to discuss current, past and future research developments.

Membership is open to everyone from individual fishers, to communities, to markets and all are encouraged to partake and engage in the developments. The IPNLF is a hub for likeminded people who want to support the sustainable and equitable development of pole-and-line tuna.

Source: IPNLF

Margaret E.L. Stacey
Editor Companies and Products
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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