RESOURCE ROUNDUP: Public Vessel Lists & Transparency in Tuna Fishing
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ISSF’s Public Vessel Lists
The ProActive Vessel Register (PVR) is one of four public vessel lists that ISSF provides to foster transparency in tuna fishing. Vessels that join the PVR commit to provide regular, accurate information about specific activities. This information is displayed publicly in the PVR, which shows facts about each vessel, and based on independent audit results, if the vessel is following best practices for sustainable fishing, such as having a shark-finning prohibition policy and using non-entangling FADs.
ISSF developed “Vessels in Other Sustainability Initiatives (VOSI)” as a first-of-its-kind searchable, online list of vessels worldwide that are fishing in a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified tuna fishery and/or participating in a tuna Fishery Improvement Project (FIP).
“Fishing vessels are on the front lines of our collective work toward sustainable fisheries,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “Our newest vessel list, which requires participating vessels to go through a third-party auditing process, offers more verified transparency when it comes to FIPs and vessels in MSC-certified fisheries. Giving the public more information via the VOSI helps to recognize those vessels that are part of the sustainability solution.”
In addition to the PVR and VOSI, ISSF offers two other public, global, and searchable vessel lists: the Record of Large-Scale Purse Seine Vessels (LSPSR) and Tuna Vessel IMOs and Other UVI Numbers (IMO/UVI)
Featured Graphics
PVR Growth by Vessel Type
An infographic shows how the PVR has grown from its inception in 2012 through 2021, both in number and type of vessel (handline, longline, pole & line, purse seine, supply & tender).
Snapshot of the Large-Scale Purse-Seine Fleet
An infographic shows the size and fishing capacity of the large-scale purse-seine fleet fishing for tropical tunas worldwide, based on ISSF research. It indicates how the PVR helps to provide transparency of the fleet’s fishing activities, including changes in fish hold volume.