The commitment from US retailer Safeway to switch to tuna caught without fish aggregation devices (FADs) could be significant for the global tuna business.
If other retailers decide to follow Safeway’s example, it will impact prices and supply of tuna and could change the business -- which is set up to catch tuna on FADs with large vessels -- forever, sources said.
The Safeway move follows the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) PNA Western and Central Pacific skipjack tuna fishery, which does not use FADs.
“If,
