Saving Seafood

The Marine Stewardship Council’s Ocean Stewardship Fund 2021 open for applications

October 7, 2020 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The Marine Stewardship Council is inviting fisheries, scientists, NGOs and postgraduates to apply for grants from its Ocean Stewardship Fund (OSF) – a fund dedicated to supporting best practise in sustainable fishing. Awards of between £5,000 to £50,000 are available across five different strands of funding within the Ocean Stewardship Fund.

The MSC also announced that the two priorities for the Science & Research strand of the fund in 2021 are fisheries’ harvest strategies to ensure effective stock management, and research focused on improvements in bait fisheries. Driving progress in both areas will help accelerate the uptake of sustainable fishing practises.

The priority for the Innovation strand of funding will be fishery observers. Many fisheries rely on observers to collect essential evidence needed for sustainable fishery management, and the MSC has already committed £100,000 for research to identify ways to improve their safety.

Grants are also available to support small-scale fisheries and fisheries in the developing world as well as to existing certified fisheries that have already made long-standing sustainability commitments.

The Marine Stewardship Council’s CEO, Rupert Howes said:

“We have seen incredible progress in sustainable fishing but more needs to be done and now to ensure our oceans remain productive and resilient in the face of the growing pressures and demands placed on them. The clock is ticking and we are not on track to deliver the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14, aimed at conserving the oceans, seas and marine resources by 2030.

“The MSC wants to use its Oceans Stewardship Fund to contribute to the acceleration of this much needed transition by funding and supporting research and projects that tackle the challenges facing the global fishing industry. We recognise that, collectively, the actions we all take will make a difference and can help to safeguard our oceans for future generations.”

The MSC anticipates £1 million will be available in this round of the Ocean Stewardship Fund in 2021. The fund, which is now in its second year of operation, is supported annually by royalties earned from the sale of products carrying the MSC ‘blue fish’ label.

Last year, the Ocean Stewardship Fund awarded £650,000 to 15 projects and fisheries including projects tackling lost fishing gear and research into how to minimise impacts on endangered, threatened or protected species.

To find out more information about the grants available for 2021, and the deadlines for application visit www.msc.org/oceanstewardshipfund

Nine of world’s biggest fishing firms sign up to protect oceans

June 9, 2017 — Nine of the world’s biggest fishing companies have signed up to protect the world’s oceans, pledging to help stamp out illegal activities, including the use of slave labour, and prevent overfishing.

The initiative will be announced on Friday, as part of the UN Ocean Conference this week in New York, the first conference of its kind at which member states are discussing how to meet the sustainable development goal on ocean health.

Goal 14 of the roster requires countries to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources”. However, little has yet been done to set out concrete commitments on meeting this target. The UN is hoping countries, companies and organisations will set out voluntary plans this week to work on issues such as pollution, overfishing, the destruction of coastal habitats, and acidification.

The Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS) initiative, supported by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, marks the first time that companies from Asia, Europe and the US have come together aiming to end unsustainable practices. Although the fishing industry is highly fragmented at the local level, with millions of small boats and subsistence fishermen, about 11 to 16% of the global catch goes to just 13 companies, who are thought to control about 40% of the most valuable and biggest species.

Henrik Osterblöm, deputy science director at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, which brought the initiative together, said: “Sustainable marine ecosystems will be essential to feed a growing population, but the oceans are at risk. Seafood makes up 20% of the global intake of animal protein.”

Read the full story at The Guardian