Take action against the ‘factory-farmed chicken of the sea’
A familiar sight: the stack of canned tuna in the pantry. Canned tuna is the most purchased fish in the Netherlands, but unfortunately, the tuna’s origin is questionable, to put it mildly. Bart van Olphen of Bart’s Fish Tales is taking action against ‘factory-farmed tuna’.
As many as 93 percent of the canned tuna in supermarkets is problematic tuna. This means that there is no guarantee that this fish was caught sustainably, and it contributes to problems in our oceans. Too much tuna is being caught, putting the population at risk. There is also a great deal of (unnecessary) bycatch. These other species, including small sharks, often die on board the ship and are then ‘simply’ thrown back into the sea. Disrespectful, and also highly damaging to the marine ecosystem.
Good tuna?
Tuna with an MSC certification (Marine Stewardship Council) guarantees reasonably good tuna. Why reasonably good? This tuna is caught with a purse seine net. That still results in a lot of bycatch, because fishers have no control over exactly what they catch. With reasonably good tuna bearing the MSC certification, measures are taken to limit bycatch, and fishers are committed to sustainable fishing. In other words, they do not simply fish the sea empty.
Truly good tuna is caught without a purse seine net, but simply with a fishing rod. Pole-and-line-caught tuna! This is the only way to ensure there is little or no bycatch. Multiple studies, including one by Greenpeace, show that in the Netherlands, Fish Tales canned tuna is one of the few truly good tins. Bart therefore has every right to speak out. In the campaign STOPFOUTETONIJN, he calls on people to choose sustainably sourced canned tuna. That way, future generations can continue to enjoy it too.
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