Saving Seafood

Atlantic Capes, Northern Wind, Don’s Gulf lead launch of new Mexican bay scallop FIP

December 6, 2019 — Three companies involved in the Mexican bay scallop fishery have launched a collaborative effort to create a fishery improvement project (FIP) in the hopes of securing Marine Stewardship Council certification of the fishery.

Atlantic Capes Fisheries, of Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.A., Northern Wind of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Don’s Gulf Select of Louisiana have announced a joint FIP to bring the fishery into line with international standards and move toward MSC certification.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Two Fisheries Science and Management Experts Appointed to ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee

December 4, 2019 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) announced today that Dr. Alexia Morgan of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and Bill Holden of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) have joined the ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee (ESC).

Alexia Morgan, Ph.D., is the Science Lead for Tuna and Large Pelagic Species at the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).  Dr. Morgan provides scientific and technical advice to producers and suppliers on key issues related to the fisheries they source from and ways in which they can improve these fisheries, including bycatch issues. In addition to these roles, Dr. Morgan conducts seafood assessments of tuna and large pelagic fisheries for SFP. Previously, Dr. Morgan was a Research Biologist at the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida and has worked as a consultant for various NGOs on a variety of elasmobranch-related issues. Outside of SFP, Dr. Morgan’s interests and research focus primarily on ecosystem impacts and spatial management of elasmobranch species in the Atlantic. Dr. Morgan has a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Florida and an M.S. in Marine Biology from Nova Southeastern University.

“Dr. Morgan’s hands-on experience with producers and suppliers coupled with an impressive scientific background will be a significant asset for our team. Her position on the ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee continues ISSF’s long-time engagement with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson.

Mr. Bill Holden is the Senior Fisheries Manager, Oceania & South East Asia, for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a global fisheries certification and ecolabel program. He began working with the MSC in February 2009 and is based in the Sydney office. His work involves fisheries outreach in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, with a focus on tuna fisheries. Mr. Holden has a wealth of experience in fisheries management from more than 20 years as an owner, operator and skipper of snapper and tuna longliners in the Kingdom of Tonga. During that time, he was the President of the Fishing Industry Association of Tonga (FIAT) and a director of the Pacific Islands Tuna Industry Association (PITIA).  Along with his vast industry experience and knowledge of fishing and marketing operations, Mr. Holden’s work in associations provides him with an understanding of regional management, and he maintains an extensive Pacific network of colleagues, associates and friends. Mr. Holden graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1984 with a B.A. in Political Science and Communications.

“ISSF’s objective is for all tuna fisheries to be capable of achieving MSC certification without conditions. Having regular representation from MSC on ISSF’s Environmental Stakeholder Committee has been important for ISSF,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “As our newest ESC member from MSC, Bill brings regional management experience and expertise in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean that is especially vital to our collaborative work. We look forward to his advice and counsel, especially in that critical part of the tuna-fishing world.”

Read the full release here

US Pacific cod TAC set to drop below Russia’s next year, 2021 reduction also likely

December 3, 2019 — The total allowable catch (TAC) for US Pacific cod will drop again in 2020 and beyond, as Russia increases its TAC way past the Alaskans and also has now Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for a large chunk of its fishery.

Alaska’s Pacific cod biomass is down considerably in 2020 and will drop further in 2021, according to the draft stock assessment and fisheries evaluation (SAFE) report on stocks in the eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, which will be discussed Monday at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) meeting, held from Dec. 2-10, 2019, at the Hilton Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska.

At the end of the meeting, TACs for Pacific cod, pollock and other species will be recommended to the government. According to historical catch data, the last time Russia had a higher Pacific cod catch than the US and Canada was 1987, when it was 175,271t compared to 150,591t.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

International Seafood Sustainability Foundation Announces New Conservation Measure to Bolster Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) Management across Global Tuna Fisheries

November 12, 2019 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) today announced the adoption of a new conservation measure requiring that fishing vessels have publicly available fish aggregation device (FAD) management policies to comply with ISSF supply-chain recommendations for marine ecosystem health. These policies must be in line with science-based best practices outlined in ISSF’s report, “Recommended Best Practices for FAD Management in Tropical Tuna Purse Seine Fisheries.”

“Since ISSF’s founding 10 years ago, we’ve prioritized better management of FADs and the reduction of bycatch and other marine ecosystem impacts across all oceans,” explains ISSF President Susan Jackson. “This new conservation measure gives leading seafood companies a clear framework, based on years of scientific research, in sourcing tuna from vessels that are following best practices in designing, deploying, and recovering FADs – and also in reporting FAD data to Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs).”

ISSF Conservation Measure 3.7 Transactions with Vessels or Companies with Vessel-based FAD Management Policies, approved by the ISSF Board of Directors to take effect in 2021, states that ISSF participating companies shall conduct transactions only with those purse seine vessels whose owners develop and make public FAD management policies that include the activities purse seine and supply vessels are undertaking (if any) on the following elements:

  • Comply with flag state and RFMO reporting requirements for fisheries statistics by set type
  • Voluntarily report additional FAD buoy data for use by RFMO science bodies
  • Support science-based limits on the overall number of FADs used per vessel and/or FAD sets made
  • Use only non-entangling FADs to reduce ghost fishing
  • Mitigate other environmental impacts due to FAD loss including through the use of biodegradable FADs and FAD recovery policies
  • For silky sharks (the main bycatch issue in FAD sets), implement further mitigation efforts

Helping global tuna fisheries become capable of achieving Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification without conditions has long been an ISSF objective, and improved FAD management is an important component of meeting the MSC standard. Conservation Measure 3.7 is ISSF’s second measure focused on FADs specifically, and its tenth measure focused on bycatch mitigation in tuna fisheries.

For full details on Conservation Measure 3.7, read the complete text here: https://iss-foundation.org/what-we-do/verification/conservation-measures-commitments/bycatch-mitigation-3-7-transactions-with-vessels-or-companies-with-vessel-based-fad-management-policies/

Supply Chain Conservation Measure Expanded to include FisheryProgress.org and MSC-certified Fisheries

ISSF conservation measures directly affect how 26 global seafood companies that are ISSF participating companies environmentally manage their respective tuna supply chains.

To support ISSF participating companies in sourcing sustainable tuna from processors and vessels and achieving greater supply-chain transparency, the ISSF Board has amended Conservation Measure 2.4 Supply Chain Transparency, Audit, Reporting and Purchase Requirements.

In addition to purchasing tuna from Supplier Source categories — peer ISSF participating companies, ISSF Data Check companies, direct from vessels — ISSF participating companies now can source tuna from an expanded array of sources represented by these Fishery Source categories:

By January 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, to comply with measure 2.4, participating companies must publicly report the percentage of tuna sourced from the Supplier Source and/or Fishery Source categories.

The complete measure is available here: https://iss-foundation.org/what-we-do/verification/conservation-measures-commitments/traceability-data-collection-2-4-supply-chain-transparency-audit-reporting-and-purchase-requirements/.

ISSF provides application forms for companies interested in becoming a participating company or Data Check company, including Terms and Conditions for Data Check Companies.

Sustainability gaining ground in Chinese market

November 6, 2019 — Among the sea of Chinese companies exhibiting a huge variety of species and equipment at the China Seafood Expo in Qingdao, China, one thing was in greater abundance in 2019 than ever before: Displays showcasing products certified to a sustainability scheme.

Certifications – like that of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification – have been catching on in the world’s most populous country, with multiple China-based companies now holding a certification of some kind. The number of products, too, showcasing certifications has increased rapidly.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Grocery chain calls attention to seafood via new sustainability ranking

November 4, 2019 — Natural Grocers, a large natural grocery chain operated by Vitamin Cottage, is drawing attention to the traceability and sustainability of its fresh and frozen seafood with its new sustainability ranking system for shoppers.

In a massive overhaul, the Lakewood, Colorado-based operator of 153 stores is calling attention to its meat and seafood departments by more effectively communicating the sustainability and other benefits – such as “Certified Organic” and “Dolphin Safe” – of its current offerings.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Certifying collective releases new tool looking at seafood’s environmental, social performance

October 24, 2019 — The Certifications and Ratings Collaboration, a collective of leading global seafood certification and ratings programs, recently released its Sustainable Seafood Data Tool this month. An online resource, the new tool offers a first-of-its-kind interactive overview of the environmental and social performance of worldwide seafood production, the collaboration said in a press release.

The analysis offered in the Sustainable Seafood Data Tool gives an overarching view of all global production and also drills down to give snapshots of wild and farmed seafood production. Each of the tool’s overviews provides details of the proportion of seafood production that has been certified or rated as meeting a high level of environmental performance; whether the area in question is improving through fishery or aquaculture improvement projects; if it needs improvement; or if its status is unknown.

The data within the resource can be filtered, the collaboration said, a capability that allows users to display similar overviews for particular regions or countries. Additionally, tool also allows for the combination of geographic filters with filters for wild capture, farmed, or both.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Russian Pacific cod MSC approval has catchers eyeing more EU, US sales

October 18, 2019 — A portion of the Russian longline Pacific cod and halibut fishery has been certified as sustainable to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard, meaning the country’s catchers are set to further target the European and US markets.

The approval took place on Oct. 9 and this means all cod and halibut from the certified management areas caught after Aug. 1 this year can be sold as MSC certified, Sergey Sennikov, director of sustainability for Norebo Holding, Russia’s largest fishing company, during the 2019 Groundfish Forum in Berlin, Germany.

“We can target Europe and the US as well, as Pacific cod is well known in the US. It’s about having more access to the market,” he said. This places Russian Pacific cod more closely in competition with product from the US. The US fishery has been MSC certified for many years, but catch allocations have been coming down.

According to the public certification report on the Russian fishery, the portion of the total allowable catch (TAC) for Pacific cod covered by the MSC approval is 31.8%. The report only gives a TAC for 2016-2017, which was 140,000 metric tons, meaning 25,200t of this would be eligible for sale as MSC-approved.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

New client confirmed for Alaska salmon MSC certificate

October 17, 2019 — The Pacific Seafood Processors Association (PSPA) successfully transferred the clientship and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate for Alaska salmon over to the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) as of 1 October.

The development brings about the conclusion of “a deliberate and cooperative transfer process,” PSPA and AFDF said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Gulf of Mexico menhaden fishery wins Marine Stewardship Council certification

October 17, 2019 — The menhaden fishery in the Gulf of Mexico has been granted Marine Stewardship Council certification, more than two years after Omega Protein and rival producer Daybrook Fisheries first applied for the review.

The fishery was recommended in June by independent auditor SAI Global, but several conservation groups filed objections and the harvesting companies had to work through an appeals process, Omega Protein, which is owned by Canada’s Cooke, explained.

“The Marine Stewardship Council is a global icon in seafood sustainability, and fisheries that are MSC certified are recognized as some of the best managed in the world,” Bret Scholtes, Omega Protein’s CEO, is quoted as saying in a statement. “Our fisheries have long operated according to sustainable practices, and this certification is just the latest recognition of it.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News