Last Updated: 23 April 2008

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Fishery species

Mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)

MSC Assessment Status

The certification body, Moody Marine Ltd., has released the final Performance Indicators and Scoring Guideposts that will be used to evaluate the Ecuador and Peru mahi mahi fishery against MSC Principles and Criteria.

Please see the download section for a copy of the document.

The assessment will evaluate the fishery for compliance with the MSC’s Standard for well-managed and sustainable fisheries through the point of the first draft of the assessment report. The assessment will use newly developed methodological guidance based on a precautionary risk assessment approach, to compensate for lack of information. The MSC will use this report and reports from other assessments of small scale and data deficient fisheries in this project to evaluate the new approach and to inform a decision on future adoption of the guidance as a component of the MSC’s assessment process. 

The Ecuador and Peru mahi mahi Fishery is now in the information gathering phase of the assessment. The key purpose of this stage is to collect information on the fishery and in particular to speak to representatives of the fishery, fishery management bodies and other stakeholders of the fishery. Most meetings will be carried out over the period 23-30 April 2008 (23-24 April in Lima and the adjacent landing places, 25-26 April in North Peru centred around Paita and Tumbes, 28 April in Guayaquil, 29 April in Manta and 30 April in Quito).

Please refer to the assessment downloads section for further information.

Fishery information

Mahi mahi is caught along the Peruvian and Ecuadorian coast. Annual catches by the artisanal fleet amount to approximately 12,000 tonnes in Ecuador and 40,000 tonnes in Peru. The fishers use shallow set longlines.

In some parts of the world mahi mahi are known as dolphinfish, dorado or perico. The fish is highly migratory and fast - a fact that is reflected in its name. Mahi mahi is Hawaiian and means “strong strong”. The fish has become popular for restaurants in many countries due to its sweet, lean meat. About half of the total mahi mahi exports of this fishery is imported by the US.