RFMOs: CCSBT

ISSF 2025-08: An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks Relative to Marine Stewardship Council Criteria*

Written by svanouse on June 25, 2025.

This is a June 2025 version of a report ISSF has published since 2013.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has established a program whereby a fishery may be certified as being sustainable. The sustainability of a fishery is defined by MSC criteria that are embodied in three Principles: relating to the status of the stock, the ecosystem of which the stock is a member, and the fishery management system.

Since many of these MSC criteria are comparable for global tuna stocks, the MSC scoring system was used to evaluate 23 stocks of tropical and temperate tunas throughout the world and to evaluate the management systems of the Regional Fishery Management Organizations (RFMOs) associated with these stocks. No evaluation has been made of the fishery specific ecosystem criteria in this report.

The principles that were assessed were:

Principle 1 (P1): A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery, and
Principle 3 (P3): The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national, and international laws and standards, and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable.

Each of these Principles is evaluated in relation to Performance Indicators (PIs) within each Principle based on public information available by March 2025. The update includes changes in version 3.1 of the standard (MSC Fisheries Standard and Guidance v3.1 –22nd July 2024; http://www.msc.org/).

Related P1 and P3 infographics are available: Summary of Sustainable Tuna Stocks (MSC Principle 1) (2025) and RFMO Performance (MSC Principle 3) (2025).

Read a press release about the report.

RFMO Best Practice Performance

Written by Sharon Tomasic on May 21, 2025.

This table, updated in May 2025, shows which Regional Fishery Management Organization(s) (RFMOs) are leaders — that is, following best practices in fishery management — in several categories: IUU Vessel List, Authorized Vessel Record, Compliance Assessment Process, EM and 100% Observer Coverage, Supply & Tender Vessels, VMS, Transshipment, and FAD Management.

See our related RFMO Best Practices Snapshots series.

Tuna RFMO Requirements for Observer Coverage

Written by svanouse on May 7, 2025.

In this infographic, updated in May 2025, ISSF benchmarks tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) requirements for observer coverage — including electronic monitoring (EM) — against best practices.

The infographic tracks priority areas for reform, indicating whether an RFMO has the priority reform in place, has a partial reform in place, or does not have a reform in place.

Tuna RFMO Requirements for Compliance Processes

Written by svanouse on May 7, 2025.

In this infographic, updated in May 2025, ISSF benchmarks tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) requirements for compliance processes against best practices.

The infographic tracks priority areas for reform, indicating whether an RFMO has the priority reform in place, has a partial reform in place, or does not have a reform in place.