How pole and line fishing enables sustainability in the tuna market

What do you think when you pick up a can of tuna? Dinner, lunchboxes, whether you've got any mayonnaise in the fridge? Perhaps if you're worried about the world's oceans, dolphins may leap across imaginary seas as you drop the can into your basket.

But of all the thoughts canned fish may conjure, consumers are probably least likely to think of another human being; a life and a livelihood supported by the penchant for a tuna sarnie.

British consumers make up the world's second largest market for canned tuna (second only to the US). Yet they are often unaware of their power, of their connection with people across the world as they sweep through the supermarket aisles.

Last week, I returned from the Maldives – home to one of most renowned tuna fisheries in the world. Having spent 24 hours onboard a fishing boat, a week at a tuna processing complex, and interviewing the Maldivian minister for fisheries and agriculture, it's clear to me that our choice of canned tuna affects people, not just dolphins, on the other side of the world.

Fishing as a way of life

The Maldives comprises of 26 coral atolls, 1,200 islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean; a hotspot for honeymooning couples and the rising Asian middle classes. While tourists enjoy sun and sand, the rest of the country fishes. A nation comprised of 99% sea, the Maldives sees fishing not just an industry but as a way of life. After tourism, tuna fishing is the Maldives major source of income, and tuna is the nation's primary export.

Importantly, the Maldivians fish tuna in a special way – they fish by "pole and line". Put simply, fishermen catch tuna one by one, using a pole, line and hook, meaning that no other marine life is harmed in the process.

Simon Clydesdale, oceans team leader at Greenpeace UK, explains: "What else is caught with your fish? Nothing – just tuna. No sharks, rays, pilot whales, whale sharks, turtles, dolphins, seabirds or any other marine life that form the billion tins of bycatch caught annually just by purse seine fleets using FADs (fish aggregation devices), or by destructive longliners."

Indeed, the Maldives skipjack tuna fishery was certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, a demanding environmental standard, in November 2012.

But while the fishery rightly receives environmental kudos, less well recognised is its social impact on the Maldivian way of life.

An industry with a positive impact

I was visiting the Maldives on behalf of the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF). The charity's main aim is to improve the wellbeing of coastal communities, by supporting pole and line fisheries that are not only good for the planet, but good for people too.

To understand the tuna fishery fully, I spent time with all parts of the supply chain, including a day onboard a fishing vessel. The life of the fishermen struck me as fulfilled. Undoubtedly the crew work hard, fishing six days out of seven. But talking with the fishermen while they relaxed on deck in between bouts of fishing, revealed that they found their work enjoyable. All of the fishermen we spoke to described either the exhilaration of catching fish one by one, or the valuable relationships they formed with the rest of the boat's crew. As the boat's captain Hussain Ahmed commented: "the fishermen are all very close friends - like brothers". And importantly, the fishermen explained that they were well paid. Solar Hussain, who has spent his life fishing, explained reasons for choosing his profession: "It's safe for us, it's better for the environment, and the income is so good".

Back on land, I spent some time at Horizon Fisheries, one of the three major tuna processing complexes in the Maldives. While it made sense that pole and line fishing provides a good livelihood for individuals, I was keen to understand how an international export market affects the local community.

Speaking to Ahmed Naseem, a factory worker for over seven years, he made it clear that the complex brought opportunity to the island, capitalising on the benefits of the pole and line fishery.

"In the Maldives, on isolated atolls, more than 70% of people are fishermen", says Naseem.

"So before the factory was here, whatever was caught was just used locally and exported to Sri Lanka, where we didn't get a good price.

"But today, when we are at full capacity, we employ around 500 staff. So not only will fishermen benefit from better prices [because of the processing plant], but young teenagers will also be provided with employment".

Supporting the local economy

Benefits from pole and line fishing flow throughout the nation's population; a situation quite unique amongst industrial fisheries. In part, this is because the processing provides local employment (at Horizon, over 70% of all salary payments return to the local economy. This is also due to the co-operative-like structure of pole and line fishing, for which the Maldivian minister of fisheries and agriculture, Ahmed Shafeeu, is a strong advocate.

"Pole and line fishing in the Maldives is not done on a employer-employee basis, but rather as an activity that all the fishermen are carrying out together as their own business. Everyone takes an equal share on the boat," Shafeeu explains.

Moreover, catching fish one by one engages many people. So it employs a large number of people and is a community, and often family, driven activity".

To be truly sustainable, we need to secure a long-term future existence for both people and planet. A tin from the grocery aisle is a surprisingly simple way to contribute to this in an increasingly complex, globalised world.

Next time I buy tuna, I'll be thinking about mayo (of course), of dolphins (who wouldn't), but also of fisherman Solar, his tales of tuna, and his grin as he landed a whopper.

Rosie Magudia is communications director at the International Pole and Line Foundation.

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