Forerunner to the current Tuna Council, the U.S. Tuna Foundation (USTF) was established in 1976 to be the representative voice of the U.S. tuna fleet and the U.S. canned tuna processors Bumble Bee®, Chicken of the Sea® and StarKist® on legislative and regulatory issues. Some of the Foundation’s most important accomplishments include:

• Formalizing and standardizing the industry’s Dolphin Safe practices;
• Establishment of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty with 16 Pacific Island nations integral to the uninterrupted supply of canned tuna in the U.S.;
• Development of product safety guidelines to govern handling and inspection of processed tuna that established the foundation of modern day Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations for safely processing seafood in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2007, the U. S. Tuna Foundation was dissolved and a new council created within the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) called the Tuna Council. Today, the Tuna Council represents U.S. canned tuna processors speaking for the tuna industry on numerous issues from fishing access arrangements and federal and state regulations, to sustainability and domestic marketing.

The Tuna Council works closely with international conservation organizations to ensure that tunas used in our canned and pouched products remain a healthy and viable renewable resource. The organization is also in close consultation with national, state and local governments and agencies on a diverse range of issues including consumer-friendly labeling, product safety, dolphin safe fishing, nutrition and marketing.