Talk to any fisherman whose livelihood depends on a struggling fishery, or any fisheries manager juggling calculations to determine the future of an overburdened species, and they’ll probably agree on one thing: preventing disaster is better than trying to alleviate it after the fact.

Maldives, an island nation just southwest of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, decided that protecting the future health of the skipjack tuna fishery that fuels its economy should be a priority now, while it’s still thriving. So Maldives, with support from other coastal states and the International Pole and Line Foundation, led the charge to get the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, or IOTC, to adopt new management rules that will keep skipjack tuna stocks healthy for the long term – from banning aerial vehicles like drones to identify schools of tuna to prohibiting the use of lights to attract fish at night. And it paid off. In May 2016, IOTC became the first tuna regional fisheries management organization to adopt a precautionary harvest control rule before stocks were plagued by overfishing.

The new rules are a major win for the Maldives pole and line fishery as it works to safeguard its Marine Stewardship Council certification and value to seafood buyers around the globe. Buyers like those in Europe who pushed their own delegations in the Indian Ocean to be more sustainable and support the Maldivian proposal.

Months of collaboration among fishers, industry groups and retailers proved that innovative partnerships can be the key to monumental change. Their story illustrates how working together and asking for the same big policy reforms for sustainable management can benefit the environment, fishermen and the seafood industry. And while many fisheries around the world are still in distress, the skipjack experience may be able to serve as a model for other RFMOs and help lead more fisheries into long-term health.

The Marine Stewardship Council collaborated with the International Pole and Line Foundation on a coastal states workshop to help build support for the Maldivian proposal. MSC is a Walton Family Foundation grantee.

All photos courtesy of the International Pole and Line Foundation.