The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has published its latest ISSF Annual Conservation Measures & ProActive Vessel Register Compliance Report, providing independently audited results on implementation of ISSF Conservation Measures by participating companies and vessels listed on the ISSF ProActive Vessel Register (PVR).
For the 2025 audit period, the 24 ISSF participating companies achieved a 98.8% conformance rate across 32 ISSF conservation measures. The report also summarizes aggregate compliance on the PVR for the vessel-related measures it tracks. Independent audits were conducted by MRAG Americas in accordance with established ISSF audit protocols, providing stakeholders with transparent, independently verified information on implementation of ISSF conservation measures by participating companies and PVR vessels.
“ISSF’s Conservation Measures are more than commitments on paper,” said Susan Jackson, ISSF President. “For the tenth consecutive year, participating companies achieved more than 90% conformance with ISSF Conservation Measures, reflecting a sustained commitment to implementing science-based best practices. Independent auditing and public reporting help demonstrate how those measures are being implemented by participating companies and PVR-listed vessels. Together, they provide an important level of accountability that supports ISSF’s science-based approach to tuna fisheries.”
Company Compliance Results
The report documents progress by ISSF participating companies in advancing tuna fishery sustainability. It tracks conformance with a broad range of ISSF conservation measures, including:
- Demonstrating the ability to trace products from can code or sales invoice to vessel and trip
- Submitting quarterly purchase data by vessel, trip dates, species, size and other data to RFMO scientific bodies
- Transactions only with those longline vessels whose owners have a policy requiring the implementation of best practices for bycatch mitigation of sharks and marine turtles
- Establishing and publishing policies to prohibit shark finning and avoiding transactions with vessels that carry out shark finning
- Conducting transactions only with purse seine and large-scale longline vessels whose skippers have received science-based information from ISSF on best practices such as reducing bycatch
- Avoiding transactions with vessels that are on an RFMO IUU fishing list
“ISSF Conservation Measures reflect years of scientific research and practical experience across tuna fisheries,” said Dr. Victor Restrepo, ISSF Vice President, Science and Chair of the ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee. “As new science, technologies, and fisheries management priorities emerge, the measures continue to evolve to provide science-based approaches for addressing challenges ranging from traceability and monitoring to bycatch mitigation and FAD management.”
Among the 24 participating companies audited:
- 17 companies were in full conformance with all 32 ISSF conservation measures
- Two companies recorded two minor non-conformances
- Four companies recorded one minor non-conformance
- One company recorded one major non-conformance
The report also includes updated company reporting under Conservation Measure 2.5 – Transparency in Reporting Progress Against ISSF’s Five-Year Goal, summarizing fishery sources and supplier sources reported by participating companies.
ProActive Vessel Register Compliance
The PVR is a public vessel transparency initiative through which participating vessels agree to undergo regular auditing to verify implementation of applicable ISSF conservation measures. Independent audits evaluate vessel information and operational practices through a combination of administrative reviews and sample-based vessel audits.
The ISSF Annual Conservation Measures & ProActive Vessel Register Compliance Report includes aggregate PVR compliance, covering vessel-related measures such as:
- RFMO authorization and participation
- Shark finning policy
- Large-scale pelagic driftnet prohibition
- Full retention of tunas
- Skipper best practices
- Use of non-entangling FADs
- Best practices for sharks, sea turtles and seabirds
- Vessel-based FAD management policies
- Unique vessel identifiers
- Observer coverage
- IUU fishing
In 2025, PVR-listed vessels demonstrated an aggregate 75.6% compliance with the 11 ISSF conservation measures applicable to vessel operations. The report also provides detailed aggregate results across the Pass, In Process and Fail audit categories, as well as measure-specific results for each conservation measure.
In addition to this summary report, MRAG Americas issues individual company compliance reports, which ISSF publishes on its website. PVR vessel compliance details are available on the PVR.
ISSF will publish the Update to the Annual Conservation Measures & ProActive Vessel Register Compliance Report in the fourth quarter of 2026 to reflect any improvements made by participating companies. Such updates will be noted in individual company reports available online.
