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Sealord has bowed to pressure from conservationists and will drop its use of fish aggregation devices or FADs.
The country's largest seafood company, which is half owned by pan-Māori Aotearoa Fisheries, has come under fire for sourcing tuna from boats that use the devices.
Its New Zealand General Manager, Stu Yorston, says since signing the World Wildlife Fund’s Western Central Pacific Tuna Conservation Pledge in January, Sealord has looked at ways to reduce its bycatch.
He says the quickest way to drop bycatch below 1 percent is to stop using FADs.
New supplies of Sealord Yellowfin Tuna will be FAD-free from July this year and the rest of the range will be FAD-free by early 2014.
Mr Yorston says the albacore tuna that Sealord catches off the West Coast of the South Island is now certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, making it the first New Zealand product with that label.
WWF’s marine advocate, Katherine Short, says more consumers and retailers are demanding ocean-friendly, sustainable seafood.
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