Walmart, Albertsons Join Tuna Transparency Initiative

Walmart and Albertsons are among the global food industry stakeholders that have joined The Nature Conservancy’s recently launched Tuna Transparency Pledge—a program that increases on-the-water monitoring across all tuna fishing vessels within their supply chains by 2027.

Climate-focused nonprofit The Nature Conservancy said that one of the biggest obstacles to sustainably managed global tuna fisheries is the absence of adequate on-the-water data.

An estimated 20 percent of fish caught come from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and fewer than five percent of longline tuna vessels have an observer to independently verify sustainably caught activity, according to the report. Increased monitoring would help address this issue.

“The absence of transparency at sea allows for IUU-caught fish to enter the supply chain undetected. We cannot afford to ignore the urgent need for action to protect ocean wildlife and fish stocks, and—in turn—the people they feed and the communities that rely on them,” said Ben Gilmer, large-scale fisheries director for The Nature Conservancy. “On-the-water monitoring technology is ready to scale today, which helps ensure that the seafood on shelves has been harvested in compliance with fishery laws. The new Tuna Transparency Pledge will help drive market transformation that can help guarantee a long-term and sustainable seafood supply.” Full Story