Increasing Industry Involvement in International Tuna Fishery Negotiations

SCIENCE FOR SOCIETY Tuna is a food staple for many families, and billions of cans are consumed annually. Most tuna comes from the Western Pacific where fishing companies pay to fish in island country waters. Ensuring the catch is sustainable is the collective responsibility of all countries, so governments meet annu-ally to negotiate fishery quotas and restrictions. Little is known about how companies participate in these negotiations, although outcomes affect their businesses, and whether they abide by outcomes affects the long-term sustainability of tuna. By combining negotiation attendance lists and interviewing attendees, we found industry attendees now almost outnumber those from government, and 15 of 158 companies ac-counted for 41% of recent industry representation. While 70% of island delegations had foreign industry representatives, interviewees suggested current company involvement does not negatively affect negotia-tion decisions and may even help ensure sustainable tuna fisheries in this region.