Dongwon Gets WCPO Longline Catches Certified

Korean tuna fishing company Dongwon Industries recently got its longline-caught yellowfin, bigeye, and North Pacific and South Pacific albacore catches in the WCPO MSC certified. Last March, Dongwon went for an MSC scope extension for its yellowfin (UoA10), bigeye (UoA 11), North Pacific albacore (UoA 12), and South Pacific albacore (UoA 13) catches to its already MSC-certified purse seine skipjack, yellowfin, and bigeye.

All four UoAs scored above 80 for the three principles – target species, ecosystem impacts, and management systems. The report read that the main client is the same as per the existing certificate in Dongwon Industries, but with additional entity SNB International currently owning and operating one of the eight longline vessels in the proposed UoAs 10-13. All vessels in the fishery are flagged to South Korea.