Saving Seafood

Sustainable seafood sales reached an all-time high as shoppers cooked at home in 2020-21

October 4, 2021 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The momentum behind the sustainable seafood movement continues to grow, according to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the international not for profit responsible for the world’s most widely used sustainable seafood ecolabel. Despite disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, consumers bought record numbers of products with the blue MSC label in 2020-21.  

The new figures released today as part of the MSC’s annual report show that the volume of independently certified sustainable seafood sold with the MSC label increased nearly 6% between April 2020 and March 2021. In total 1,267,000 tonnes of MSC labelled seafood were sold globally, compared with 1,197,000 tonnes the year before.  

Types of seafood popular during Covid-19 lockdowns saw some of the biggest rises. Sales of frozen seafood products with the MSC label grew by 26% – the largest increase overall. While sales of MSC labelled canned fish rose by close to 4% globally, driven in part by a 50% year-on-year increase in sales of MSC labelled tuna products, putting global sales on course to reach 110,000 tonnes a year. 

Driving these increases is a growing consumer awareness of the need to protect our oceans [1], coupled with changes in shopping habits during the pandemic and growing commitments to sustainability from seafood brands. The US in particular saw a 54% increase in sales of MSC labelled sustainable seafood on the back of growing commitments from brands and retailers including Walmart. 

Increases in the availability and sales of sustainable seafood products have been supported by growth in supply. The report shows that despite massive disruptions to their operations, more fisheries and supply chain organisations became certified to catch and handle MSC certified seafood in 2020-21. The number of MSC certified fisheries increased to 421, now collectively responsible for 14% of all wild marine catch.  The year also saw a 5% increase in the number of organisations, such as supermarkets, restaurants, processors, distributors and warehouses, certified to  handle, process and package MSC certified seafood [2]. Worldwide, these organisations now operate in more than 46,200 sites. 

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council, said: “The growth of the MSC’s program against the backdrop of the pandemic is a sign of the strength of the sustainable seafood movement. Despite the unprecedented challenges, more fisheries have become certified to the MSC Fisheries Standard, more brands are making bold commitments and more consumers continue to buy sustainably sourced fish.   

“But the challenges are growing. Too many governments continue to put short-term interests before sustainability. And globally the level of overfishing continues to rise. Institutional inertia is out of step with growing public activism around the oceans. The pandemic has heightened awareness of the need to protect our valuable natural resources. We’re calling on governments to seize this moment as an opportunity to support sustainable fisheries and seafood businesses by committing to measures that safeguard our fish stocks.” 

Despite the progress presented in the report, the MSC stresses that urgent action is still required to overcome the challenges facing the oceans. The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020 report revealed that overfishing continues to rise, with more than a third (34%) of the world’s fish stock now overfished. 

The MSC’s report highlights that governments failed to reach agreement on ending harmful fishing subsidies, one of the major drivers of overfishing and have so far failed to reach agreements on quotas for mackerel, herring and blue whiting in the North East Atlantic. The future sustainability of global tuna stocks is also in jeopardy if international commissions responsible for managing tuna fail to set robust harvest strategies.  The MSC is calling for urgent action to address these challenges.

Read the MSC’s 2020-21 Annual Report, Recognising & rewarding sustainable fishing. 

Notes for editors:  

References:  

  1. 2020 Global Seafood Consumer Survey, MSC 
  2. There were 5,391 MSC Chain of Custody certificate holders on 31 March 2021 compared to 5,158 on 31 March 2020. This certification ensures that MSC certified seafood is kept separate from non-certified seafood and is clearly labelled.  

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organisation which sets globally recognised, science-based standards for sustainable fishing and seafood traceability. The MSC ecolabel and certification program recognises and rewards sustainable fishing practices and is helping create a more sustainable seafood market. It is the only wild-capture fisheries certification and ecolabelling program that meets best practice requirements set by both the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and ISEAL, the global membership association for sustainability standards. For more information visit msc.org. 

Gulf of Maine lobster MSC suspension lifted

October 1, 2021 — MRAG Americas has announced the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate has been reinstated for the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery effective 1 September, 2021, following its suspension in 2020.

The MSC certification was suspended in August 2020 in the wake of a decision in a federal court that found that the lobster fishery was in violation of the Endangered Species Act. That ruling by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in April 2020 found the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to include an “incidental take statement” for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

The MSC Ocean Stewardship Fund now open for applications

September 17, 2021 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Now in its third year, the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Ocean Stewardship Fund is open to applications for 2022, offering over £1 million in grants dedicated to support sustainable fishing worldwide. The MSC invites fisheries, scientists, NGOs, and postgraduate students to apply for grants of up to £50,000 each, available across four different strands of funding.

This year, the MSC particularly welcomes research proposals related to habitat impacts and interactions with endangered, threatened or protected (ETP) species. With only around 20% of the seabed currently mapped by scientists [1], it can be hard for fisheries to demonstrate that they are successful in protecting ecosystems. By funding innovative research in this area, the MSC seeks to drive fishery improvements that better protect ocean biodiversity.
To date, the MSC’s Ocean Stewardship Fund has awarded 35 grants totalling £1.3 million and is currently supporting 24 active projects around the world. Previously funded projects have already helped fisheries improve their sustainability – from mapping the Greenland seabed to avoid vulnerable marine species, to developing smartphone apps that help fishers better identify ETP species in the North Sea.
Through this Fund, the MSC has committed 5% of royalties, earned from the sale of products carrying the MSC ‘blue fish’ label, to support fisheries at all stages on their pathway to sustainability. It is hoped that the impact of these projects will contribute to the delivery of the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water.

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive at the Marine Stewardship Council said:“Our oceans are under enormous pressure. Supporting the efforts of fisheries, scientists and conservationists who are striving to make progress in sustainable fishing is more important than ever. MSC’s Ocean Stewardship Fund provides such support directly to credible projects and initiatives that deliver real improvements in the way our oceans are being fished and importantly, that help fisheries around the world to progress on their pathway to sustainability.
‘Projects funded by the Ocean Stewardship Fund are also helping to deliver the ambitious targets set by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and to encourage collaboration between fisheries and scientists and other stakeholders who care as passionately as we do about the health of our oceans and the security of seafood supplies for this and future generations”
To find out more information about the grants available for 2022, and the deadlines for application visit: msc.org/oceanstewardshipfund

New MSC Recertification for Pacific Halibut and Sablefish Now Includes Inside Waters

August 19, 2021 — A team effort over several months resulted in MSC’s recertification of Pacific Halibut and North Pacific sablefish fisheries to  include the inside waters of the northern section of Southeast Alaska, including the waters of Chatham Strait, east of Sitka.

Last week the  expanded recertification was announced by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and that it now included for the first time the Northern Southeast Inside (NSEI) sablefish fishery.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Vital Choice receives MSC Ocean Champion award

August 19, 2021 — Ferndale, Washington, U.S.A.-based Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics has been awarded a U.S. Ocean Champion Award by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

The annual award recognizes MSC partners who have gone “above and beyond” to demonstrate dedication to healthy oceans and transparent supply chains, MSC said in a press release. Vital Choice, which received the award on 11 August, 2021, is joined by fellow winners TransOcean and Bar Harbor Foods.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MSC warns WCPO tuna fisheries of potential certification suspension

July 28, 2021 — The Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) is warning that its certification of 22 tuna fisheries in the Western Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) could be suspended if regional fisheries management organizations fail to act on measures to keep the fisheries harvested at sustainable levels.

According to an MSC press release, the tuna fisheries are facing suspension if there is no agreement to update management measures by June 2023. Losing the certification means the fisheries would also lose the MSC blue eco-label placed on their products sold at retail.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Blue ticked off: the controversy over the MSC fish ‘ecolabel’

July 26, 2021 — This month, two right whales in the Gulf of St Lawrence were found entangled in fishing gear. One, a female, was first spotted entangled off Cape Cod last year, but rescuers were not able to fully free her; the other, a male, is believed to have become entangled in the Gulf.

Hunted to near extinction before a partial whaling ban in 1935, North Atlantic right whales are once more critically endangered, with only 356 left. The main threat remains human contact: entanglement in fishing gear, and ship strikes. Fatal encounters, caused in part by the whales’ migratory shift into Canada’s snow crab grounds, have soared: more than a tenth of the population died or were seriously injured between 2017 and 2021, mostly in Canada and New England.

One of the threats they face is from the growing crab and lobster fisheries. The whales migrate from their calving grounds in Florida to feed in Canada – putting them on a collision course with the pots and traps.

“We’re talking millions of lines, placed in the water every year,” says Kate O’Connell, a marine wildlife consultant for the Animal Welfare Institute. “These animals are running the gauntlet – and it’s getting harder and harder for them to survive.”

When a whale gets entangled, ropes from buoys on the surface to the seabed traps can become embedded in its skin, weighing it down and leaving it unable to swim or feed properly, leading to a “really traumatising death”, O’Connell says.

But what makes it even more concerning to conservationists is that some of the fisheries they say threaten the right whale were certified as “sustainable” by the world’s largest fisheries certification programme: the Marine Stewardship Council.

The MSC, which grants the right to use its well-known “blue tick” label on products, has grown from 315 certified fisheries in 2017 to 421, representing 14% of all global fish landings. In the last year its labelled products were worth $12bn (£9.5bn). In the absence of governments looking after our oceans, “the MSC is definitely the best we’ve got” in terms of consumer labels, according to Ruth Westcott of the environmental alliance Sustain.

Read the full story at The Guardian

MSC announces two new director appointments for North America

July 21, 2021 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) said it’s strengthening its presence in North America with the appointments of Erika Feller and Kurtis Hayne.

Feller, formerly of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, assumed the role of regional director of the Americas for MSC on 12 July, the organization announced in a press release. She brings more than two decades of experience to the position, specializing in fisheries and cross-sector partnerships, and will be based in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., MSC said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MSC strengthens its presence in North America with senior level appointments

July 20, 2021 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announces two new senior appointments in the Americas strengthening its position as a leader within the sustainable seafood movement. Erika Feller joins the MSC as Regional Director of the Americas from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation where she oversaw its ocean and coastal conservation efforts. She has more than two decades of experience working on marine issues, with a focus on fisheries and cross-sector partnerships. In Canada, Kurtis Hayne has been appointed Program Director to lead the Canada strategy. He most recently was the Senior Commercial and Fisheries Manager, Canada West and brings almost a decade of experience working for various organizations in seafood market analysis, fisheries, and ocean conservation.

Feller joined the MSC senior program management team on July 12 and is based in Washington, D.C. In her role as Regional Director she oversees the MSC’s work in the Americas, continuing to expand the MSC’s work with fisheries, the supply chain, and consumers. She leads a team of approximately 30 staff in Canada, the US, and Latin America, working closely with Program Directors: Cristian Vallejos in Latin America, Eric Critchlow in the US, and Kurtis Hayne in Canada.

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of MSC, said: “I am delighted to welcome Erika to the MSC. Erika brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the sustainable seafood movement, as well as multistakeholder and solutions focused coalition building that will accelerate MSC’s work across the region to recognize and encourage sustainable fishing practices that support healthy marine ecosystems. I’m also pleased to recognize Kurtis Hayne, recently appointed as Canada’s Program Director. There is a huge opportunity to grow public awareness of sustainable seafood in the Americas and I look forward to working with Erika, Kurtis and the broader team in achieving that.”

“Sustainable fisheries help to keep oceans healthy and seafood on our plates; both are important to me,” said Feller. “I’m looking forward to being part of the MSC and for the opportunity to help fishermen and communities who are adopting sustainable practices on the water, as well as connect with consumers who care about where their food comes from.”

Feller brings a breadth of experience in ocean and coastal conservation. Most recently, she directed programs for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, guiding investment in improved fishery monitoring, coastal resilience, and helping to recover resources in the Gulf of Mexico impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. She began her career as a legislative and policy adviser on natural resource and environmental issues in the US House of Representatives, and later joined the Nature Conservancy where she led a North America-wide initiative to promote sustainable fisheries. She also served at the White House Council on Environmental Quality supporting interagency efforts on large scale ecosystem restoration around the U.S. Feller currently serves as the Chair of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on all living marine resource matters that are the responsibility of the Department of Commerce.

The new appointments come as the sustainable seafood movement builds momentum in the Americas with fisheries continuing to engage in the program, strong supply chain commitments, and increased visibility of the MSC blue fish label on seafood products. The vast majority (82.31%) of commercially landed seafood in the US, and more than half (57.6%) in Canada, is engaged in the MSC program, accounting for 4.25 million metric tons of seafood caught every year*. A further 1.4 million metric tons originate from fisheries engaged with the MSC program in Latin America* (*figures accurate as of July 2021).

Marine Stewardship Council launches strategy for Chinese retailers

July 7, 2021 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is seeking to increase its imprint on the Chinese retail scene with the introduction of a strategy document at a recent meeting of retailers in the country’s south.

The MSC Sustainable Seafood Procurement Strategy 2021 was launched at the recent annual purchasers summit organized by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association (CCFA) in Guizhou with a range of seafood import companies present to court retailers with MSC-certified products.

Read the full story at Seafood Source