Saving Seafood

Marine Stewardship Council Reports That 90 Percent of US Fisheries Meet Sustainable Standards; Highlights MSC-Certified SCEMFIS Members

February 6, 2026 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

Last week, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) highlighted the sustainability of U.S. fisheries with new data from 2025 showing that, by volume, 90 percent of the U.S. catch is MSC-certified and meets the organization’s sustainability guidelines. Among the organizations highlighted are industry members of the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS).

SCEMFIS, a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, brings together marine scientists and members of the commercial fishing and wind energy industries to collaborate on fisheries research focusing on sustainable fisheries. Several SCEMFIS member organizations participate in fisheries that have been certified against the MSC Sustainable Fisheries standard, including Atlantic and Gulf menhaden, Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog, longfin and shortfin squid, black sea bass, summer flounder, Atlantic and Pacific tuna, and scup.

Wayne Reichle, the Owner and President of Lund’s Fisheries, a member of SCEMFIS’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB), is quoted by the MSC in their announcement:

“For nearly ten years, Lund’s Fisheries, Inc. has collaborated with the MSC, and our partner conformity assessment bodies (CABs), to assure domestic and international markets vitally important to our long-term success that the seafood we produce is managed sustainably based on rigorous, annual, scientific and monitoring reviews. Our MSC-certified Atlantic sea scallop, Atlantic and Pacific squid, and Atlantic menhaden purse seine, scup, fluke and black sea bass trawl fisheries have provided us with access to markets that would not otherwise be available to our third-generation fishing company, to the benefit of our community, our employees and our company and independent fishermen whose cooperation we depend upon each day as we plan for the future.”

The MSC “sets criteria to ensure healthy fish stocks, minimal harmful impacts on marine ecosystems, and to promote effective and responsive management.” 62 species in the U.S. are MSC certified, with more than 1,300 certified products available in the U.S. market.

In 2025, MSC became the newest member of the SCEMFIS IAB. In joining, MSC praised the work the Center has done for seafood sustainability, with MSC’s Anthony Mastitski, Fisheries Outreach Manager, saying, “SCEMFIS plays a pivotal role in advancing scientific research across U.S. fisheries, including many that are MSC-certified. Thanks in part to SCEMFIS, these fisheries have maintained their certifications and continue to offer sustainable seafood options to consumers at home and abroad.”

In addition to having the MSC and several MSC-certified fisheries represented on the Center’s Board, SCEMFIS research has directly improved the sustainability of many of these fisheries. Among other issues, SCEMFIS-supported science has provided new insights into how climate change has impacted Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog, and how to best estimate their ages and populations; an analysis of Gulf predators’ diets that better defines the role of Gulf menhaden as a forage species in the food web; updating the maturity and fecundity schedules for Atlantic menhaden and addressed improvements in the Atlantic menhaden stock assessment; and the economic impact of the Atlantic surfclam, scup, Gulf menhaden, longfin squid, and summer flounder fisheries.

MSC research finds tuna fisheries are at most risk from climate change

November 4, 2025 — A new suite of research led by the Marine Stewardship Council has found fisheries targeting tuna species are at the most risk from the impacts of climate change.

The research paper, “Climate change risks to future sustainable fishing using global seafood ecolabel data,” was recently published in Cell Reports Sustainability and reviewed more than 500 fisheries around the world with a sustainability certification. The study examined species under multiple gear types and species, including whitefish, krill, lobster, and tuna.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Commissioner’s permit available for new GOA tuna fishery

September 22, 2025 — A brand-new Pacific tuna fishery is open in the eastern Gulf of Alaska and state fisheries officials are anticipating a commercial harvest coming soon.

“It is very exciting; we are hoping to see some tuna harvested in the Sitka area,” said Rhea Ehresmann, Region 1 groundfish project leader for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).

Pacific tuna species are not currently covered by federal fisheries management in Alaska waters, so they are being managed by the state. Commercial fishermen eager to target, retain and sell Pacific tuna must apply for a commissioner’s permit and possess a valid Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) vessel license and miscellaneous saltwater finfish interim use permit for the gear type used for directed fishing – in this case hand troll, power troll, or mechanical jig.

Pacific tuna caught as bycatch in the salmon troll fishery may be retained using the fisher’s CFEC salmon troll permit card, but salmon trollers must also apply for a commissioner’s permit, Ehresmann said.

The permits are issued with specific stipulations – such as dates the permits are valid, legal gear types, area restrictions/closed waters, requirements for logbooks and fish tickets, and restrictions on bycatch of other species.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Brief tuna bounty in Southeast Alaska spurs excitement about new fishing opportunity

September 17, 2025 — In Alaska, a state famous for abundant salmon and huge, cold-water-loving crab, another type of fish is making a splash: tuna.

Incursion of warm waters into Southeast Alaska coastal areas off Sitka and Baranof Island created a brief tuna jackpot earlier this month for sport fishers.

One of the first of those anglers was Troy Tydingco, who happens to be the Sitka sportfish area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

He took a day off from work when conditions were just right to search for tuna, a type of fish suited to more southern latitudes: beautiful weather, with calm waters and water temperatures that reach 60 degrees.

About 30 miles offshore, the search was successful. Tydingco and his six companions caught 44 albacore tuna in all. Other fishers followed.

“I think this is probably the first time sport anglers have really successfully targeted them and harvested them out of Sitka,” he said.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Pacific tuna fishery opens in Eastern Gulf of Alaska

September 17, 2025 — A new Pacific tuna fishery has opened for commercial harvesters in the eastern Gulf of Alaska, with the required commissioner’s permits to be available from the date issued through Dec. 31.

“The decision to create the commissioner’s permit was based on requests from the commercial fleet to target Pacific tuna, given the large presence of tuna in our waters outside of Sitka,” said Rhea Ehresmann, leader for the Region 1 groundfish project for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).

Ehresmann said sport harvesters have told ADF&G there is a large body of blue warm water around 60 degrees Fahrenheit located over 10 miles off Cape Edgecumbe outside of Sitka.

“It is very exciting; we are hoping to see some tuna harvested in the Sitka area,” she said on Monday, Sept. 25. “It sounds like the tuna are a bit farther offshore, around 10-plus miles from Cape Edgecumbe around the 1,000-fathom line, though the Pacific tuna are swimming and caught much closer to the surface.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries claims success at eastern Pacific tuna conference

September 11, 2025 — The 2025 Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission meeting closed Sept. 5 without changes to Pacific bluefin and bigeye tuna management sought by environmental groups. The returned U.S. delegation took credit for “prioritized American interests by enhancing conservation efforts, strengthening monitoring programs, and expanding opportunities for American fishermen.”

Meeting in Panama City, Panama, the 21-nation tuna commission dealt with tropical tuna management, the recovery of derelict fish aggregating devices (FADs) and regulatory simplification, according to a summary this week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries division.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Warming oceans drive tuna from Pacific islands

July 28, 2025 — Kauaka Petaia guided his motorboat out of Tuvalu’s main lagoon at dawn and into the vast Pacific Ocean, where he and his nephew scanned the rolling horizon for signs of their country’s most precious resource: tuna.

They searched for more than two hours before finally spotting seagulls circling in the distance. Petaia threw open the throttle as his nephew, Ranol Smoliner, tossed a hooked line into the water. Soon, the younger man felt the tug of a 25-pound yellowfin, which he pulled up and bashed with a club. By morning’s end, the pair had caught eight tuna — a haul far smaller than when Petaia’s father taught him to fish 30 years earlier.

“We have to spend longer and go farther to get them,” the 48-year-old said as the fishermen unloaded their catch.

“I’m not sure there will be any tuna left by the time I’m my uncle’s age,” added Smoliner, 22.

Tuna is a pillar of life in the Pacific, where for centuries people have braved the ocean to bring back yellowfin, skipjack, bigeye and albacore for their families.

In recent decades, as global demand for tuna has soared, Pacific island nations including Tuvalu have propped up their struggling economies by selling licenses to allow international fishing companies to trawl their vast exclusive economic zones. These seas provide as much as one-third of the world’s tuna supply.

But climate change is warming the world’s oceans at an accelerating rate, threatening livelihoods.

Scientists predict that climate change will push tuna away from Pacific island nations and toward the high seas, where wealthier countries with large fishing fleets – China, Japan, South Korea and the United States – will catch them without paying license.

Read the full article at the Washington Post

From Overfished to Sustainable Harvests: Pacific Bluefin Tuna Rebound to New Highs

June 26, 2024 — The recovery of Pacific bluefin tuna has achieved a major milestone—the species exceeded international targets a decade ahead of schedule. The rebuilding of Pacific bluefin tuna reflects a fisheries management success. International organizations cooperated across the Pacific to reverse decades of overfishing for the prized species.

The International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-Like Species in the North Pacific Ocean (ISC), including NOAA Fisheries researchers, provided scientific expertise to inform conservation measures. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) adopted these measures.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

NOAA awards USD 50 million contract for Pacific tuna and swordfish observer program

August 16, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries has awarded FLOAT Partners a five-year, USD 50 million (EUR 46 million) contract to oversee efforts to put observers on commercial fishing vessels in the Pacific Islands.

Under the contract, which is set to begin 1 September and continue into 2028, Hawai’i, U.S.A.-based FLOAT will recruit, supervise, and outfit fisheries observers as part of the Pacific Islands Region Observer Program (PIROP).

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

The True Cost of Tuna: Marine Observers Dying at Sea

May 23, 2023 — Simi Cagilaba could hear the fighting outside his cabin door. In the hallway of the 209-foot tuna seiner, drunken crewmen were roiling the ship yet again. It was late, and the vessel was bobbing on the currents of the South Pacific, the fighting typical of nights when the cook let the crew drink the rice wine. Now, the unwelcome clamor moved toward his door like another bad omen in a trip that was steadily devolving.

An official observer of marine fisheries, Cagilaba was miles offshore of the Marshall Islands, dispatched aboard the seiner then known as the Sea Quest. It was 2015. He had a background in marine affairs and was working for the Fijian government in its national Ministry of Fisheries, tasked with upholding a patchwork of regulations meant to safeguard tuna.

Read the full article at Civil Eats