1. INTERNATIONAL
POLE & LINE
FOUNDATION

2. 1 | INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION | 2
OUR VISION
IS TO PROVIDE CUSTOMERS,
ON A GLOBAL SCALE, THE OPTION
TO BE ABLE TO CHOOSE A MORE
RESPONSIBLY CAUGHT TUNA.
MISSION Pole-and-line is regarded as the most responsible
way to fish tuna. Using the market as the trigger to
promote and foster sustainably sourced pole-and-
line tuna, our goal is to allow for greater conditions
of life for socially and economically disadvantaged
fishing communities around the world.

3. 3 | INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION | 4
INTRODUCTION
Many coastal communities around the world rely livelihoods are under pressure.1 These fisheries and
heavily on fishing for their livelihood. Most of these their communities could benefit from the increas-
fisheries, for example in the small island states in ing market potential of pole-and-line caught tuna;
the Asian-Pacific region, are small scale and strug- this technique requires little capital investment and
gling for survival. Large-scale industrial fleets are can provide employment opportunities, as it is more
dominating the global market for popular fish such labour-intensive than large-scale industrial fishing.
as tuna. They provide little opportunity for employ- Yet, these small fisheries often lack the knowledge
ment and revenue flows to large enterprises – not and infrastructure to enter the global market.
to fishery communities. In addition to this, modern
fishing techniques result in unwanted and unsustain-
able by-catch and over fishing is putting pressure on ”THE GLOBAL MARKET DEMAND FOR
POLE-AND- LINE CAUGHT TUNA
tuna populations. A more selective and hence sus-
tainable and responsible technique is pole-and-line
fishing; a traditional method often practiced by fish-
IS INCREASING “
ers in coastal communities. The International Pole and Line Foundation
(IPNLF) will work to bridge the gap between de-
” LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRIAL FLEETS mand and supply. The objective of the foundation
is to help develop sustainable and equitable pole-
PROVIDE LITTLE OPPORTUNITY FOR EM- and-line fisheries and to increase the market share
PLOYMENT AND...RESULT IN UNWANT- of sustainably and equitably caught pole and line
ED AND UNSUSTAINABLE BY-CATCH “ tuna. IPNLF is a not for profit organisation, all rev-
enue raised and generated will contribute directly
The global market demand for pole-and- line caught to research and capacity building, our goal is to use
tuna is increasing, as environmental organizations the generosity of the market to make large positive
have worked to increase consumer awareness on impact.
sustainability issues. Coordination is necessary to
find a way how the supply side can be increased
in a sustainable and equitable way, while not add-
ing to the problem of overcapacity in tuna fisheries.
Coastal fishery communities often live at sustenance
level, as fishery resources are diminishing and their

5. 7 | JUSTIFICATION JUSTIFICATION | 8
The rapid and radical degradation of the oceans is a Despite these declines, the global fishing fleet con- of access to fish resources by industrial operators, big
profound global environmental crisis. Putting to one tinues to grow in size and deploy continuously im- companies and corporations. Meanwhile, small fish-
side climate change and oceans acidification, com- proving technology that makes finding and catching eries are scattered and poorly organised. Therefore
mercial fishing is regarded as the single greatest en- marine life more efficient.4 they have a very weak voice in the political arena.
vironmental threat to the world’s oceans by leading
marine scientists. No other activity has such a large Catching, processing and trading fish provides a
direct impact on the whole marine ecosystem as fish- ”160,000BOATS CATCH AS MUCH
INDUSTRIAL
OF THE LARGEST
livelihood for millions of men and women, the over-
ing.2 The UN FAO estimates that over 85% of com- whelming majority of whom are associated with
mercially valuable fisheries are fully exploited, over- FISH AS THE REMAINING 3.84 MILLION small-scale fisheries. In fact, of the 70% of the world’s
exploited, depleted or recovering from depletion.3
BOATS AND ONLY EMPLOY 5% OF FISH total fish catch that comes from developing countries,
These stock trends, which are considered an optimis- over a half of this comes from small-scale fisheries.9
tic picture of the problem, are worsening year on year. WORKERS GLOBALLY “6
The livelihoods of these fishers and their communi-
JUSTIFICATION ties are more and more under pressure. Failed gover-
The rampant overcapacity of the world’s fishing fleet nance and perverse economics fundamentally under-
is one of the root causes of a wide variety of problems pin the problem. Fisheries policies and catch limits
afflicting fisheries worldwide. The global fishing fleet are overwhelmingly influenced by the fishing sector
has been estimated to be 2.5 times greater than the leading to a widespread failure of governments and
oceans can sustainably support.5 The overall figure transnational agencies to implement sustainable
is 75% higher than 30 years ago and is continuing to frameworks.
increase. 160,000 of the largest industrial boats catch
as much fish as the remaining 3.84 million boats and
” CATCHING, PROCESSING AND TRAD-
THE GLOBAL only employ 5% of fish workers globally.6 Associated
with over fishing is the destruction wrought by the ING FISH PROVIDES A LIVELIHOOD FOR
FISHING FLEET IS
destructive gears of non-selective forms of fishing MILLIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN “
2.5
leading to unacceptable rates of discarding and by-
catch. There is currently a rapidly expanding market drive
WHICH IS in the most sustainable consumer markets such as
75%
Unequal access to fish resources is a fundamental the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany,
problem. While approximately 90% of global fish- Nordic countries and increasingly Australia, New
ing takes place on the continental shelf, which tends Zealand, Canada and North America to switch sea-
to be within countries Exclusive Economic Zones, food procurement to more sustainable and equitable
this does not equate to resources being equitably alternatives, particularly for tuna. The UK market for
MORE THAN IT WAS accessed by coastal states.7 A handful of nations, example, which has the second largest canned tuna
30 YEARS AGO including China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the EU, market in the world, has made commitments to shift
have their vessels deployed in almost every ocean, its entire production of tuna to pole-and-line and
GREATER THEN THE sometimes benefiting from access agreements to
developing countries’ waters, often with detrimental
other sustainable catch methods of tuna by 2016.10
Under the current circumstances it will not be pos-
OCEANS CAN SUPPORT impacts of the interests of local fishermen and the sible to meet their increasing demand as the supply
food security of coastal communities.8 This is a direct of sustainably and equitably caught pole-and-line
cause of the depletion of local stocks in the devel- tuna is lagging behind.
oped world which leads to the migration of capacity
to new fishing grounds. There is a growing trend to
promote the privatisation of fish resources as a solu-
tion to the problems of overcapacity and over fishing
but this will mostly result in a higher concentration

6. 9 | JUSTIFICATION JUSTIFICATION | 10

7. 11 | STRATEGY STRATEGY | 12
”EQUITABLY CAUGHT POLE-AND-LINE
TUNA IS NOT JUST AN OPPORTUNITY, IT
IS A NECESSITY “
sustainable elements of the tuna industry, and pro- invest further downstream within the value chain –
vide the opportunity for developing coastal states develop a relationship at source.
such as those in the Asia-Pacific region to develop
their own tuna fishing industries, replacing the cur- The benefit for the consumer will be that they have
rent industrial and large-scale foreign fishing opera- the choice to buy a product that contributes to im-
tions. proved livelihoods to otherwise marginalised or
poor communities, and to healthier marine life. Liv-
The global market demand for sustainably and equi- ing within coastal zones, these communities are not
tably caught pole-and-line tuna is increasing, as en- only poor, they are also vulnerable to multiple driv-
vironmental organizations have worked to increase ers of change, notably demographic trends, climate
consumer awareness on sustainability issues. Ad- change, sea level rise, and increasingly frequent and
equate coordination of market development of sus- severe weather events. As the world markets have
tainable and equitable caught pole-and-line tuna is globalised and harmonised, so has our understand-
not just an opportunity, it is a necessity, if there is ing of being a global citizen. Issues such as food se-
no proper management of how the supply side can curity are not just a problem in regional or develop-
be increased in a sustainable and equitable way, the ing areas, but a real risk that faces us all.
increased demand will only add to the problem of
STRATEGY overcapacity in tuna fisheries. Currently there is no
institution to ensure good coordination. The Interna-
tional Pole and Line Foundation will fill this void.
Pole-and-line fishing can be one of the most sustain-
able and equitable ways to catch tuna, and unlike The commercial benefit for brands and retailers is
many other industrial tuna fishing methods, is suit- a simple one; they can manage their brand security
able for use by coastal communities. The capital in- and development by gaining access to the tuna re-
vestment needed to run the operations is much less source. They can work together with these regions
than that of large-scale industrial vessels, and the on producing a product that meets their consumer
fishery is also labour intensive at different parts of requirements while at the same time managing their
the production chain, hence being a good employ- own product growth. The days are almost behind us
ment creator. Careful development of this part of the when a retailer or brand can merely rely on the pro-
industry can help to supply the increasing demand cessor or importer to obtain consistent supply, with
for more sustainable tuna, displace some of the less an ever diminishing supply of raw product, one must

8. 13 | STRATEGY STRATEGY | 14
THE THREE
1 STIMULATING DEMAND
The market for sustainable seafood has grown enor-
PILLARS FOR mously. In the UK all the major brands & supermar-
kets have made public commitments to sourcing
DEVELOPMENT sustainable seafood, including tunas. One indicator
is the growth in supply of MSC certified products,
which have doubled in number every year since
2004; as many as 13,000 products are now available.
Developing an alignment with market orientated
certification programs such as Marine Stewardship
Council (MSC) and Fair-trade will leverage further
market support and awareness of pole-and-line. Oth-
er activities will include co-branding opportunities
and increasing consumer engagement by partnering
with retailers and brands on combined campaign
and marketing efforts.
2 3
PRODUCER BENEFITS AND MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
SUPPORTS Some measures have been developed to control catches and limit the conse-
The market can act as a large lifeline to the preven- quences of high impact fishing methods, but these must be strengthened. Addi-
tion of any further marginalisation of coastal com- tional management capacity must be developed and nurtured to maximize qual-
munities. Longer term contracts, capacity building, ity of catch and minimise wastage in the industry due to poor facilities and poor
knowledge and business literacy transfer will all post-harvest handling. Further research is required to understand and manage
benefit from market engagement. Areas that require bait fisheries globally, and these can include options to identify other possible
extra effort which have been set out by IPNLF are alternative resources such as aquaculture. Other areas of contribution to research
the offers of family insurances & safety nets, further will be in the form of programmed vessel and landing site observer initiatives.
improvements in safety at sea, access to affordable Solidarity with academia, research facilities, RFMOs will be a key to maximizing,
finance and creating low interest grant schemes for adaptation and utilising the latest scientific recommendations. Finally an advi-
greening the industry and improving methods to re- sory scientific board will be formed by 2013, with the goal of meeting annually to
duce carbon emissions. discuss relevant and current issues and agreeing to what research will be com-
missioned for the following year.

9. 15 | STRATEGY GENERAL OBJECTIVES | 16
Our strategy is clear; engage the global markets to
support procuring and sourcing from more equitable
and sustainable tuna fisheries, use funds raised from
of existing fisheries. Part of the program for fishery
improvement will be a pole-and-line training school
stationed in the Maldives - proposed to begin opera-
GENERAL
subscription to commission research, and support
community development.
tion in 2013. This school will offer courses for all lev-
els, and will eventually become the scientific hub and
OBJECTIVES
think tank for pole-and-line.
IPNLF will set up country branches wherever we are We want to contribute to a situation where all tuna available in
operating. These branches will offer local knowledge, We are serious about protecting the environment for
the global consumption market is caught in a sustainable and
expertise and a go-to desk for support with devel- two reasons. The first being that most of the com-
opment. We like to think these offices act as an ex- munities engaging in pole-and-line will be directly equitable way, resulting in healthy tuna populations and im-
tension to buying and quality control departments, impacted by the affects of global warming, so we proved livelihoods for coastal fisheries and their communities.
making sure of a consistently high quality product need to look internally at making energy saving im-
and offering advice to acquire the volume one needs. provements. And secondly, these improvements will
These branches will constantly update and imple- reduce operating costs, improve efficiencies and ul-
ment in the field new legislative and non-legislative timately create more bottom line profit. Low interest
market requirements; engage with governments on grants are being developed to be made available by THE
2016
policy and regulation advice; work with national 2013; our ultimate goal is that 20% of the fleets who
banks, credit unions and insurers to offering afford- have been offered the carbon emission reduction
able finance and policies; conduct capacity building grants have opted for the grant and to see a carbon
exercises and support with market visitations to help emission reduction of approximately 10% in the com-
with on the ground mobilisation and translation. ing years. INDICATORS OF
At a more central level we are setting out guidelines
SUCCESS 75% of the market we are
working with and have
for better post harvest management; providing train- made formal commit-
ing and teaching tools; tracking and communicat- ments also agree to be-
ing global demand, trends, and developing fisher- come an active member
ies for possible engagement. The central body will of IPNLF. Becoming an
We will work with the market to encourage formal
collate and engage in scientific research and align active member does not
commitments to sourcing pole-and-line tuna as part
with academia globally. The central body will com- just require just paying
of their portfolio. Success will be in the form of the
municate annual strategies, financials, and market an annual subscription
retailers and brands we have worked with and sup-
movements. Constant and ongoing outreach will be but agreeing to par-
ported sourcing and communicating a pole-and-
programmed to develop both new markets and en- ticipate in peer review
line tuna strategy. Our goal is ambitious, 50% of the 25% of the market we are
gage with supportive improvements and upgrading dialogue to comment on
market we are working with and have made formal working with and have
made a formal commit- commissioned research,
commitments have actual pole-and-line product on
ment not only to source both scientific and mar-
the shelves by 2016.
pole-and-line but have ket based.
”OUR STRATEGY IS CLEAR; ENGAGEMOREGLOBAL MARKETS TO SUPPORT
PROCURING AND SOURCING FROM
THE
EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE
agreed to engage in
building capacity and
supporting training ini-
TUNA FISHERIES, USE FUNDS RAISED FROM SUBSCRIPTION TO COMMISSION tiatives with the fishers,
RESEARCH, AND SUPPORT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT “ improving their oppor-
tunities to developing
greater prosperity.

10. 17 | ANTICIPATED MILESTONES ANTICIPATED MILESTONES | 18
ANTICIPATED 2016
At this point in time
MILESTONES 2013
Our goal is to have 20
we see the Founda-
tion as being very well
established. 50+ market
market operators sign-
operators engaged as
ing up to full member-
members, these mem-
ship in IPNLF, we will
also have the school and
2014 bers have at least 50%
We have 30 market pole-and-line product
scientific committee
operators engaged on the shelves. Our
well on its way and by
and working towards environment improving
the end of the year have
2012 3 branch offices estab-
them getting product program has gathered
This year is an excit- onto the shelf. This will traction with 20% of the
lished. Our environment
ing year and we will be include development regions having taken up
improving program will
establishing our first of company strategies the grant and seeing the
be publicly launched
regional branch, in the and also designing a rewards. This year is the
and also our fishers
Maldives. The central program (offering family
development strategy 2015 year for our huge gen-
operation unit will be with our members so we We are pushing to ex- eral meeting made open
insurances, safety at sea
skilled up with not just can achieve the goal of pand our membership not just to members but
program and access to
the operations team but getting everyone the raw base again to a total of the public, this is the
affordable finance). We
also communication. volume they need for the 40 market operators, so time when we discuss
launch our first co-part-
The communication coming years. Exciting we can deliver on our successes and lessons
ner campaign.
team are preparing a year as we make public promise of helping them learnt and plans for how
two year marketing, our first commissioned source supply. We give we are going to attack
communication and research. a special focus towards the next 5 years.
PR package, so prepare developing bottom
yourself for some great up capacity and our
stuff (including setting branch offices which has
up an image bank, brand reached 5 employ a dedi-
identity and a two year cated training specialist.
marketing campaign).

11. 19 | LOCATION ORGANIZATION & GOVERNANCE + RISK & SUSTAINABILITY | 20
ORGANIZATION
& GOVERNANCE
We are officially registered in the United Kingdom
with first branch to be launched in the Maldives this
year followed by Indonesia in 2013. The Maldives is
where we call home and is the central operation base
that we coordinate our efforts, soon will also host the
first pole-and-line school.
The founding Group of Trustees has a varied range
of experiences and brings expertise from across the
globe, annually new trustees will be invited to join as
we develop and discover new regions. The scientific
committee will meet at least annually to discuss cur-
rent, past and future research developments.
Membership is open to everyone from individual
fishers, to communities, to markets and all are RISK &
encouraged to partake and engage in the develop-
ments. We see the IPNLF as the hub for like minded
people who want to support the sustainable and eq-
SUSTAINABILITY
uitable development of pole-and-line tuna. Our sustainability is ensured by annual market sub-
scriptions; for us the market includes processors, ex-
porters, importers, retailers and brands. From 2013
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION we will be seeking match funding from donor orga-
nizations and bilateral funders, this will at times in-
A logical starting point will be to initially focus on the Maldives and Indonesia. clude government funding to support both hard and
soft finance.
From here, we will expand our work to Brazil, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, Mozam-
bique, Philippines, Senegal, USA, and small island states in the Pacific region. We see an opportunity in the fact that most brands
and retailers want to do what is correct and have a
The focus in terms of the demand side we anticipate will be mainly from the real interest in protecting the resource and commu-
United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Nordic countries and increasing- nities that depend on them. We do not see it as “them
ly Australia, New Zealand and North America, where retailers are increasingly and us”. Moreover, we are coming together and will
committing to switch seafood procurement to more sustainable and equitable strive to find the best solutions to develop sustain-
alternatives, particularly for tuna. We are not bound to certain regions and will ably coastal communities while at the same time
support with helping any market commit to sourcing pole-and-line. A tiered sub- help the market manage their brand identities and
scription structure applies to commensurate with size of our members, brands strive together to meet their raw product demand.
and retailers. Only a positive, open, engaging and transparent re-
lationship can achieve the needed outcome of sus-
tainable and well managed tuna stocks.

12. NOTES CITATIONS
1http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/AC790E/AC790E00.HTM
[Accessed, January 2012]
2 UN FAO SOFIA report 2010 http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1820e/
i1820e00.htm [Accessed, January 2012]
3UN FAO SOFIA report 2010 http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1820e/
i1820e00.htm [Accessed, January 2012]
4 The World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organ-
isation 2008 The Sunken Billions. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EX-
TARD/Resources/336681-1224775570533/SunkenBillionsFinal.pdf
[Accessed, January 2012]
5 The World Bank and the United Nations Food and Acriculture Organ-
isation 2008. The Sunken Billions. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
EXTARD/Resources/336681-1224775570533/SunkenBillionsFinal.pdf
[Accessed, January 2012]
6 UN FAO SOFIA report 2010 http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1820e/
i1820e00.htm [Accessed, January 2012]
7Greenpeace 2008, Taking Tuna out of the Can, Rescue plan for world’s
favourite fish http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/
reports/taking-tuna-out-of-the-can/ [Accessed, January 2012]
8Greenpeace 2008, Taking Tuna out of the Canm Rescue plan for world’s
favourite fish. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/
reports/taking-tuna-out-of-the-can/ [Accessed, January 2012]
9The World Fish Centre, Using Fisheries and aquaculture to reduce pov-
erty and hunger 2008
10See for example http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/re-
leases/John-West-victory/ [Accessed, January 2012]

13. Registered Office London
2-6 Cannon Street, London, England, EC4M 6YH
Registered Charity 114886
Maldives Branch Office
2nd Floor, Karankaa Villaa, Kurengi Goalhi, Male
info@ipnlf.org
www.ipnlf.org
© PAUL HILTON PHOTOGRAPHY / GREENPEACE