Mexico Baja California pole and line yellowfin and skipjack tuna
Last Updated: 24 January 2012
Number of fisheries: 2
Species
Skipjack tuna (katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (thunnus albacares)
MSC assessment status
The conformity assessment body, Intertek Moody Marine, has announced the addition of Dr Graham Pilling onto the assessment team responsible for the assessment of the Mexico Baja California Pole and Line Yellowfin and skipjack tuna fishery.
Any stakeholder wishing to provide comments on the suitability or otherwise of the nominee is invited to contact Ian Scott no later than 5pm GMT, 3 February 2012.
Please refer to the assessment downloads section for further information.
Fishery location
FAO Statistical Area 77 in the Eastern Central Pacific.
Fishing method
Pole & line
Fishery management
The fisheries are under the management of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Ranching, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) under the Comision Nacional de Pesca (CONAPESCA) of the Government of Mexico and the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).
Commercial market
The fishery currently supplies raw material to the canning operations located in Matancitas. Currently, factory output is marketed in Mexico; with certification the ambition would be to target the EU, U.S. and Canadian markets for canned certified tuna.
Assessment timeline
The assessment process is scheduled for completion around March 2012. Please see the download section for a detailed assessment timeline.
The target eligibility date for these fishery is the 1st April 2012.
The MSC ecolabel can only be applied to product from certified fisheries. The MSC program does allow, in certain circumstances and within strict traceability requirements, the MSC ecolabel to be applied following certification to product caught before the actual date of certification. The target eligibility date therefore represents the date from which products may become eligible to carry the MSC ecolabel, however they cannot be sold until and if the fishery is certified. The actual eligibility date will be determined if the fishery is certified to the MSC standard.
To find out more about when fish from this fishery may be sold with the MSC ecolabel, please follow this link (http://www.msc.org/get-certified/supply-chain/eligibility-dates).
Tonnage of the fishery
Landings by the two client vessels in 2007 totalled 495 mt (skipjack – 121 mt; yellowfin – 374 mt) and in
2008, 555 mt (skipjack - 187 mt; yellowfin – 354 mt).
