The team at Key Traceability (KT) are delighted and proud to announce the certification of the Capsen and Grand Bleu Atlantic Ocean purse seine tuna fishery under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard (v2.01). The 18 month long assessment process was first announced in April 2023, after months of preparation by the fishery, to ensure that the tuna products associated with this certificate can now carry the globally recognised and widely coveted MSC ecolabel.
The Capsen and Grand Bleu Atlantic Ocean purse seine tuna fishery operates in West Africa, across the high seas of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, and the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. The certified fishery targets both skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) using purse seine nets and a combination of free school and fish aggregating device (FAD) sets. The fishery comprises six vessels, four under the management of Capsen S.A., a Senegalese company that is also a subsidiary of Dongwon Industries, and two vessels under the management of Grand Bleu S.A., also a Senegalese company.
In April 2020, the two companies approached KT with the intention of developing a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) to prepare the fishery for eventual succession into the MSC assessment process. The group has worked hard implementing the FIP workplan to significantly improve the sustainability of the fishery, with this certification being a sign of this achievement. We are proud to have worked alongside Capsen and Grand Bleu as they obtain the MSC certification.
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