In Accra Ghana education workshops were held to reduce the environmental impact of purse seine (net) fishing for tuna. The program hosted by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) incorporates educational elements, which are updated as scientists uncover new information during at-sea research, and an open dialogue to identify new ideas from fishers directly.
ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee Chair Dr. Victor Restrepo said that in reality, scientists can identify best practices but we need the fishers to tell us if it’s practical or if there’s a new idea we should pursue. He said that the workshops are direct line of communication with a diverse group of vessel captains and skippers during the research process are rare and invaluable.
Purse seine vessels often fish on floating objects and attract tuna easier. The trouble is that this practice leads to bycatch, the capture of marine life – mainly small tuna – that the fisher did not set out to catch. ISSF President Susan Jackson added that this approach delivers better, more comprehensive research with a faster response on the water.
The workshops are modeled after a program that was designed and put into practice by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) in the eastern Pacific Ocean. With the help of leading scientists and fishing experts, ISSF has adapted this model to be used in ocean regions around the world and has already helped facilitate programs in Latin America and Europe.
