In the period since November, small scale and larger fisheries in both the developed and developing world have become MSC certified.

An ongoing commitment to sustainability

The iconic Maldives pole and line skipjack tuna fishery has thrived for hundreds of years and in November 2012 it announced that it had been independently assessed and had reached the MSC standard for a sustainable and well managed fishery. "We are proud of our fishery," said Minister of State for Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr Hussain Rasheed Hassan. "We are delighted that our sustainable practices have been recognised after open and transparent scrutiny."

In the South Pacific, the Fiji albacore tuna long line fishery became MSC certified in December 2012. It is the first albacore long line fishery to achieve this status and now has the opportunity to develop new markets in regions where demand for sustainable seafood is high. Assessment against the MSC standard by the independent third party certifier, Intertek Moody Marine, took 18 months to complete.

In 2007 the American Albacore Fishing Association’s (AAFA) North and South Pacific albacore fisheries were proud to be the first tuna fisheries in the world to be MSC certified. In the early days of 2013 they announced that they had achieved recertification, illustrating their ongoing commitment to sustainable fishing.

Members of AAFA use pole and line and troll gears with barbless hooks to catch and land albacore tuna one at a time. There is no bottom contact and negligible bycatch as a result of employing these fishing methods.  Because no nets are used, the fisheries are dolphin free.

Responding to market demand

In colder waters, the Cooperative Fishery Organisation (CVO) North Sea plaice and sole fishermen received an early Christmas present when their fishery was certified to the MSC standard in December 2012. The certificate applies to the fisheries with twinrig and outrig and part of the flyshoot fishery; more than half the flatfish fishers using these techniques will be fishing under the MSC certificate and the CVO hopes to increase this share in the future.

This is an important fishery for the Netherlands and markets there and in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland have been wanting more sustainable plaice for some time. Dover sole, typically a bycatch species, was assessed as a target species because it is important commercially – there is a growing market in the restaurant sector in the Netherlands, for example.

Sustainable razor clams and cockles

The DFA Dutch North Sea ensis – the Atlantic razor clam - became certified in November 2012. The fishery’s main markets are Spain and Italy. It uses a hydraulic dredge and in 2011 the total catch covered by the assessment was reported as being just over 3,700 metric tonnes.

In the new year, another razor clam fishery, which uses a different method to harvest the shellfish, achieved certification. This was the Cofradía de Pescadores San Martiño de Bueu in Spain, a small artisanal fishery operating in Ría de Pontevedra. The shellfish are diver caught, with the navalleiros diving to the bottom to find the clams, buried in the sand on the seabed. The certificate covers nine divers and seven boats.

"Galician small-scale fishing and Cofradía de Pescadores de Bueu believe in sustainability, and having MSC certification for our razor clams is a great endorsement for an industry that believes that an important part of our work involves guaranteeing stocks for the future," said the Patrón Mayor of Cofradía de Bueu.

These two shellfish fisheries were joined by the Dutch hand raked cockle fishery which achieved MSC certification right at the start of the period under consideration. An artisanal fishery in the  Dutch North Sea coastal region of the Wadden Sea and Oosterschelde, it harvests  on the mud flats in the tidal regions using a rake to which a netted bag is attached. The combined annual catch by licence holders of the Dutch Organisation of Cockle Fishermen is between 300 and 600 metric tonnes (shelled cockle meat).

Prawn fishery leads the way in Greenland

The West Greenland cold water prawn trawl fishery announced in February 2013 that it had become MSC certified and is now eligible to use the MSC ecolabel on its products. The inshore and offshore fleet of 21 smaller vessels and seven factory vessels is the first in Greenland to achieve the MSC standard.

"As we progressed towards certification, it became clear that we were involved in a demanding but also very rewarding process," said Henrik Leth, chairman of Sustainable Fisheries Greenland. "We attach great importance to the fact that all parts of the fishing industry have been involved in our efforts."

Increasing supply of sustainable seafood

Canada’s supply of MSC certified seafood to the global market took a major step forward when three British Columbia chum salmon fisheries were awarded MSC certification as sustainable and well-managed fisheries at the start of 2013.

Commercial harvesters for chum salmon use seine, gillnet, troll, beach seine, fish wheels, weirs and dipnets. In 2012 the three units of certification amounted to about 3,000 metric tonnes destined for buyers worldwide. This is about three quarters of the total British Columbia chum harvest.  

More sustainable shellfish

The two fisheries of the Dutch Oyster Association announced they had achieved certification to the MSC standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries on 1 March. They harvest Pacific and Native prawns by means of a ‘kor’, a special net that scrapes the oysters from the bed. Both fisheries use a ‘Catch and grow’ system to enhance oyster stocks.

The oyster fisheries are located in the Dutch North Sea coastal region of the Eastern Scheldt (Oosterschelde) and Lake Grevelingen (Grevelingenmeer).

Congratulations must go to the Oregon pink shrimp fisherywhich has been recertified to the MSC standard. The fishery was the first shrimp fishery in the world to be MSC certified in 2007. On awarding recertification, the assessors, Intertek Moody Marine, noted the strength of the relationship between management and harvesters resulting in continued development and in implementation of measures to minimize bycatch and impacts on non-target species and stocks. In their view, this made the fishery the "cleanest trawl fishery on the US west coast".

Certificate reinstated

The Portuguese sardine purse seine fishery announced that its MSC certification had been reinstated after a positive surveillance audit by independent third party certifier, Intertek Moody Marine. The fishery had been suspended from the program in 2012 following an assessment that revealed that the sardine stock had fallen below the acceptable sustainable level, with an absence of appropriate harvest controls.

By working with the Portuguese government, industry, scientists and processors, an independent assessment concluded in December 2012 that the fishery had now successfully met key milestones and its suspension could be lifted.