Call for Tender for the Provision of Marine Stewardship Council Assessment for Irish Albacore Tuna

BIM wishes to invite tenders for suitably qualified certification bodies to tender for a contract to provide assessment services for the Irish Albacore Tuna fishery. A pre assessment completed in December 2025 concluded that the fishery is likely to meet the requirements of the MSC Fisheries Standard v2.01 across all three Principles, with no Performance Indicators (PIs) provisionally scoring below 80. BIM now wishes to proceed to a full assessment with a view to potential certification. A copy of the pre-assessment document is provided along with this tender. The primary purpose of this tender is to:

• Evaluate the fishery against the MSC Fisheries Standard and associated certification requirements.
• Independently verify the sustainability of the target stock, environmental impacts, and effectiveness of management.
• Conduct transparent and inclusive stakeholder consultation in line with MSC requirements.
• Determine whether the fishery is eligible for MSC certification and identify any conditions, if applicable.
• Feedback on potential gaps on V3 of the MSC Fisheries Standard The budget range this tender is €45,000 – €65,000 (excluding VAT) for the duration of the contract and all possible extensions. Tenderers should note that this represents the maximum available budget. In order to achieve a competitive advantage, tenderers are encouraged to submit their most economically advantageous proposal. For further information on this tender competition, please see the accompanying tender documents.