IPNLF

About Us

Introduction to IPNLF

The International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF) works to develop, support and promote socially and environmentally responsible pole-and-line and handline tuna fisheries around the world. IPNLF’s ambition is to contribute to thriving coastal fisheries, including the people, communities, businesses and seas connected with them.

As a hub for sustainably-minded organisations, we use the influence of the market to forge change through practical fishery projects and stakeholder cooperation. IPNLF membership is open to organisations involved in the one-by-one caught tuna supply chains. Allied with our Members, IPNLF demonstrates the value of one-by-one caught tuna to consumers, policymakers and throughout the supply chain.

We work across science, policy and the seafood sector, using an evidence-based, solutions-focused approach with guidance from our Scientific & Technical Advisory Committee and Board of Trustees.

IPNLF’s Vision

We are committed to a future where coastal fisheries, and the communities and seas that they are part of, thrive.

This is our aspiration of how society could or should be in the future. It is big and it is not something we can achieve on our own. It guides our work; and we believe it can be achieved if enough projects/organisations share the vision and work towards it.

Our Vision succinctly states the benefit we are aiming for and main beneficiaries – it is intended to be compelling and emotive to our stakeholders. In choosing the language for the Vision we hope to have encompassed the over-arching driver for our work.

We work for the benefit of:

• Coastal fisheries: meaning both the people involved in the fishery (including local communities and connected supply chain operators) and the fish (marine life/ecosystems).
• In order to help create a future where they thrive (note, the word thrive is intentionally not defined here but implies traits such as: prosperity, well-being, health, success, and flourishing).

IPNLF’s Overall Mission

We are an international charity working across science, policy and the seafood sector. We use the influence of the market to develop and demonstrate the value of one-by-one caught tuna for thriving coastal fisheries, and the people and seas connected with them.

Our Mission is the particular way in which our organisation intends to make a contribution towards our Vision.

Note that our mission statement does not explicitly say the words sustainable or equitable, social/ economic/ environmental as these are implied in the larger framing of ‘value’ and ‘thriving’.