Sajo Industries Awarded Marine Stewardship Council Certification for Longline Tuna
Korea Fisheries Senior Manager, Doohyun Park, and Korea Fisheries Improvement Officer, Dokyong Lee, pictured with representatives from Sajo Industries Co., Ltd and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Korea at the MSC Certification award ceremony.
28 vessels catching a combined 8,320 metric tonnes of tuna in the Eastern and Western Pacific Oceans have secured Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification and will begin selling tuna to global markets using the blue MSC logo this year.
These vessels are owned and operated by Sajo Industries Co., Ltd., one of Korea’s largest tuna companies. The MSC Certification announcement is a result of two years of sustainability work undertaken by Sajo and Ocean Outcomes.
“We are deeply honored that the Pacific tuna longline fisheries of Sajo Group have achieved MSC certification. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ocean Outcomes for their invaluable support over a significant period of time,” said Chi-Gon Kim, President/CEO of Sajo Industries and Sajo Seafood.
The certification comes as part of a recent portfolio of work by Sajo to increase efforts to support better management, improved fishing practices and treatment of crew across their tuna fisheries.
This work has included advocating for science-based fisheries management, supporting government pilots on electronic monitoring (EM), working pre-competitively with other tuna companies to expand independent observer coverage, and completing a social risk assessment using the Social Responsibility Assessment (SRA) Tool onboard Sajo vessels.
“As the first in Korea, Sajo Group installed EM systems on our tuna longline vessels and conducted a social risk assessment to create a business environment that prioritizes sustainable resource management, environmentally friendly operations and human rights,” added Chi-Gon Kim. “Sajo Group will continue to embrace the evolving future and strive to advance to the next level as Korea's leading distant-water fisheries company.”
Ocean Outcomes multi-disciplinary team based both in Korea and internationally provided support to Sajo in advancing the various aspects of their growing sustainability portfolio.
“This journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. We’ve had the privilege of supporting Korea’s largest tuna longline fleet in becoming more environmentally and socially responsible,” said Doohyun Park, Korea Fisheries Senior Manager for Ocean Outcomes. “Along the way, we’ve broken important ground and achieved numerous milestones. As we look ahead, we are excited to continue to support Sajo and other regional seafood producers on their path to enhanced sustainability.”
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