The biggest gathering of major tuna industry players, tuna governing bodies, NGOs, service providers and government officials from 21-23 May
On my way to Bangkok, I been invited by INFOFISH to be a speaker at their annual Tuna conference, the biggest event in the Tuna world... and I'm trilled to be asked.
My talk elaborates on a subject that I'm quite keen and have been championing for a while: the need to capture data as well as fish at industry level.
My presentation will challenge the perception that we need to collect data for certifications only (Catch Certs for market access, ecolabelling, etc)... it proposes that data capture by industry is fundamental for todays fisheries at management, bio-economic, trade and MCS levels. And that certifications are a useful by product, but they should not be the driver... this latest attitude (unfortunately the most prevalent) is like putting the cart in front of the horse.
Finally I like to challenge the main industry players if they would accept from their logistics and banking providers, the same amount of transparency they offer to their regulators and customers?
So lets look for our solutions on those two sectors, instead on the loading the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations with that load or trusting that transparency to commercial brands such as the ecolabels.
Otherwise we always are going to be on the back foot, like now...
The programme of the conference is here