Kona Tuna, a fishing and branding company, is thriving by using its own global supply chain to bring more sustainably sourced tuna to Libya, which has the highest per capita consumption of tuna in the world.
From skipjack and yellowfin tuna caught using traditional pole and line methods in the Maldives, to carefully sourced Spanish olive oil, canning done primarily in Thailand, and unique can designs created by local Libyan artists. Sami Bugaighis, founder of Kona Tuna, has built a business that is truly international and carries with it his core value of conserving the precious ocean ecosystem.
Bugaighis’ homeland is Libya, which boasts 2000 kilometers of coastline and 300 days of sunshine a year, and it is there that he became a lover of the sea. Libya is Kona Tuna’s first market.
Today, the $40 billion tuna industry suffers from myriad sustainability problems, especially overfishing. Huge commercial fishing boats use nets that deplete areas of the ocean of enough fish to support a healthy population, not to mention the significant problem of bycatch, where sea turtles, dolphins and other sea creatures get caught in fishing nets and are thrown overboard to die.
To counter these problems, Kona Tuna is pursuing a unique global supply chain approach, starting with the fishing community on the Maldives’ main island, Malé. Rich in tuna, the Maldives fishing industry produces more than 6,000 metric tons per month.
While technology is key to the success of many businesses today, Kona Tuna is doing the opposite: safeguarding traditional values while providing jobs that bring economic prosperity and allow people to return home to their families every day, rather than spending months at sea on a tuna boat.
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