Ministry of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture has revealed Seafood Watch has placed yellowfin tuna on its Red List.
Seafood Watch is a programme created by Monterey Bay Aquarium, a US nonprofit public aquarium tasked with creating a sustainable seafood advisory list. Seafood Watch placed yellowfin tuna on its red list to stop sales and exports due to the diminishing stock in the Indian Ocean region. The action was reportedly taken after some countries in the Indian Ocean refused to establish sustainable fishing to revive the diminishing fish stock in the region.
The scientific committee of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) recently published a report on the yellowfin tuna stock assessment in the Indian Ocean, which showed evidence of overfishing and will require a catch reduction of at least 30%.
Minister of Fisheries, Marine Resources and Agriculture Hussain Rasheed Hassan held discussions with officials of Monterey Bay Aquarium regarding red listing yellowfin tuna in order to find an amicable solution and de-list the Maldives. He is currently in the US to attend the Seafood Expo.