The Australian southern bluefin tuna industry is celebrating the certification of its purse seine fishery as sustainable under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard. It is a world-first for the species and the industry is describing it as a "significant milestone" due to the fact southern bluefin tuna was once severely overfished. Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association chief executive Daniel Casement said it was exciting to attain the certification after so many years. "There's only ever one world-first … we can stand proud and be really clear about our environmental commitment and performance," he said. The MSC's independent assessment evaluates fisheries on stock health and ecosystem impact and management. MSC program director for Oceania and Singapore Anne Gabriel said the southern bluefin tuna fishery was now recognised as one of the most sustainable fishing operations in the world. "It adds to the list of sustainable fisheries in South Australia managed by the Commonwealth, showcasing leadership, innovation and science at its best," she said. "This certification is not just a badge of honour — it is proof that sustainable fishing practices can reverse environmental challenges and it demonstrates that economic growth and environmental conservation can go hand in hand." 'It has been a journey' The species has now been removed from Australia's list of threatened species. Mr Casement said the industry had done a lot of work to get stocks back up to sustainable levels. "It has been a journey for us around our fish being listed under that act, at a federal level, as conservation dependent," he said. "As the industry and the government and the researchers and the regulators, we've all worked together to recover this stock to levels at which we could remove that conservation-dependent listing, which then enabled us to progress to this certification standard." Mr Casement said the industry was committed to supporting the science needed to get this certification. "We have had researchers out undertaking gene tagging and tagging of our fish, and all sorts of different research programs so that we best understand our stock and how they move," he said. "We've also made the tough decisions, as have all of the members of the international commission that underpins southern bluefin tuna, to reduce our quotas, reduce our catch and make the hard decisions over a long time so that the benefits can be realised for future generations." New export opportunities Southern bluefin tuna is sold around the world and the industry is hoping the certification opens up new export opportunities in Europe, Asia, and other eco-conscious markets. Mr Casement said it was something many countries took notice of. "There are a number of overseas markets who are quite discerning around these things," he said. "The EU, UK, America, South-East Asia … we certainly see all those markets really starting to see MSC or equivalents as an entry level standard that you need to have to demonstrate your sustainability credentials. Port Lincon's Kin Seafood was formed to find new, more sustainable markets. It sells domestically and overseas. Australian Tuna Fisheries managing director and chief executive Marcus Stehr is also a director of Kin Seafood, which has purchased the first certified product. "It certainly makes that market access entry point a lot easier for us," he said. "Moving forward we need new markets and this will really help."