FRANCE – Carrefour, a French multinational retailer, has officially joined the Tuna Transparency Pledge, aspiring to advance 100% on-the-water monitoring across all industrial tuna fishing vessels by 2027.

The Tuna Transparency Pledge, launched in April 2024, is led by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a global environmental organisation headquartered in the USA that works with affiliates and branches in nearly 80 countries. 

This transparency pledge aims to unite key players across the seafood supply chain, including companies and governments, to fight against illegal and unsustainable tuna fishing globally. 

The commitment has since grown to include major retailers, suppliers, food service companies across North America and Europe, and other key global tuna industry actors. 

The need for transparency in tuna fishing 

Tuna is one of the most valuable seafood commodities, with tuna fisheries producing five million tons of fish with a dockside value of US$10 billion annually. 

However, a lack of transparency threatens the global seafood supply, harming coastal communities and undermining marine conservation efforts.

Industrial fishing covers more than half of the ocean’s surface, yet 90% of global fisheries have reached their maximum sustainable limits. 

With seafood demand expected to rise sharply to meet the protein needs of nearly 10 billion people by 2050, there is an urgent need for robust transparency in commercial fishing. 

Additionally, longline tuna fishing, a common commercial fishing technique, interacts with some of the most vulnerable species of marine wildlife, such as sharks and seabirds. 

However, companies taking the transparency pledge to increase monitoring can help reduce bycatch of unintended species and ensure compliance with regulations, labor protections, and corporate standards.

“We cannot afford to ignore the urgent need for action to protect ocean wildlife, tuna stocks, and the communities that rely on them. On-the-water monitoring technology is ready to scale today and helps ensure that the seafood on shelves has been harvested in compliance with fishery laws,” said Ben Gilmer, Large-Scale Fisheries Director, TNC.

According to Gilmer, this monitoring can be done using electronic monitoring with onboard video cameras, GPS, and sensors to monitor and verify fishing activities to strengthen transparency and provide critical data needed for the sustainable management of tuna and other ocean species. 

Now, Carrefour joins an array of recent signatories to the Tuna Transparency Pledge, including Aramark, Culimer USA, Lusamerica Foods, Pacific Island Tuna, and the Association of Large Freezer Tuna Vessels (AGAC), all taking the bold step towards transforming the health and sustainability of oceans.

“Tuna plays an important role in our offer, as one of our most popular seafood products… we must adopt sustainable practices toward this resource, which is affected by overfishing today.” Carine Kraus, Chief Impact Officer, Carrefour, declared.

In related news, Carrefour joined the Global Tuna Alliance last year to strengthen the sustainability of its tuna supply chain. 

This powerful partnership is set to implement a dual approach, improving tuna fishing regulations and management while ensuring best practices on all vessels supplying Carrefour.

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