Posted on September, 15 2014

The Vietnam yellowfin tuna Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) was launched in April 2014 and applied to handline and longline harvested yellowfin tuna in Vietnam – a fishery of approximately 2000 vessels with estimated 14,000 metric tons of annual landings and total export value of nearly 370 million USD.

The FIP is rooted in earlier projects by WWF Vietnam focused on bycatch best practices and capacity-building for other tuna management requirements such as research & monitoring and engagement with regional management bodies1. These interventions helped pave the way for increased awareness and capacity among government and overall heightened support among all stakeholders for a comprehensive push towards improved management and ultimately MSC certification.

Preliminary FIP scoping and an MSC pre-assessment were completed in Q4 2013. After a stakeholder workshop and workplan development phase, a FIP Action Plan was completed and formally endorsed in January 2014. The Action Plan identified WWF and the national tuna industry group Vina Tuna as co-clients of the FIP. The FIP was formally launched in April 2014, having entered the Implementation stage, with activities commenced and slated to be tracked and audited annually through to 2018.