2019 - Frabelle wharf, Seafoodmatter carried out the first Crew welfare and human rights onboard assessment on tuna purse seiners in Lae, PNG
Papua New Guinea (PNG)'s Fishing Industry Association (FIA), Nueva Pescanova Group subsidiary NovaNam, and the US' At-Sea Processors Association (APA) have become the first organizations to complete the FISH standard audits.
"I am truly excited about the geographical, operational and organizational diversity of the fleets that have come forward for the first FISH audits," said Mike Kraft, FISH standard for crew executive director. "These audits were originally planned for 2021, but the ongoing pandemic prevented auditor travel and limited access to quarantined crews. Having auditors on the vessel and performing in- person crew interviews is critical to the credibility of the process and FISHstandard."
Fridrik Fridriksson, chair of the FISH standard's board and chief human resources officer at Brim, said the organization believes it can serve as a tool "to help ensure fishers are treated fairly and responsibly and give harvesters a way to demonstrate that commitment to their stakeholders".
FISH audits include onsite vessel inspections and in-person crew interviews, in addition to policy and procedure reviews. The audits in Namibia, Seattle, and PNG were performed by Bureau Veritas, MRAG Americas, and SGS auditors. The NovaNam review covers nine deep-sea trawlers and APA's represents 15 catcher/processor vessels.
FIA-PNG previously announced its pursuit of FISH certification for 32 purse seiners. Final reports and results are currently being completed.
"FIA PNG is taking the lead in the PNA region by engaging in this type of certification to demonstrate that our fleet complies with the ILO conventions, human rights declaration, and auditing requirements," said Marcelo Hidalgo, FIA's sustainability director.
-Undercurrent News - 2022