A whopping 83 percent* of the total catch from the Northeast Pacific fishing area (including Northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea waters) is certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainable fishing standard. That’s 2.6 million metric tons of MSC certified seafood annually. Of the major global fishing areas, the Northeast Pacific – home to MSC certified salmon, Albacore tuna, pink shrimp, hake, halibut, sablefish, Pacific cod, and Alaska pollock fisheries – ranks #1 for the percentage of catch that is MSC certified.

Another North American fishing area, the Northwest Atlantic (including waters from North Carolina, the U.S. mid-Atlantic, New England, and Eastern Canada) ranked seventh globally with 32 percent (580,000 metric tons) of the total catch being MSC certified. This area is home to MSC certified swordfish, spiny dogfish, sea scallop, lobster, Acadian redfish, haddock, pollock, Atlantic halibut, snow crab, Northern shrimp and Arctic surf clam fisheries.

The analysis and ranking was done as part of the recently published MSC Annual Report 2015-2016, which also reported that MSC certified fisheries caught more than 9.3 million metric tons of seafood in 2015-16, representing almost 10 percent of the total global wild caught seafood by volume.

The global volume of MSC certified catch has increased by 6% since 2014-15, while the MSC certified supply chain has climbed 16% over the same period. Between April 2015 and March 2016, the number of processors, restaurants and caterers with MSC Chain of Custody grew from 2,879 to 3,334 companies, operating in 37,121 sites across 82 countries. More than 20,000 products now carry the blue MSC label and can be traced back to fisheries which meet the MSC’s world-class standard for sustainable fishing.

Commenting on the results, Brian Perkins, MSC Regional Director – Americas, said, “When people purchase MSC certified seafood, their choice supports fishermen around the world who are working hard to meet the world’s most rigorous standard for environmental sustainability. While we’re proud of the MSC certified fisheries here in North America, it takes a global effort to safeguard seafood supplies for the future.”

Christina Burridge, Executive Director, B.C. Seafood Alliance and Chair, International Association of Sustainable Fisheries, said: “Fishermen on the Pacific Coast of the US and Canada are proud to be recognized by the MSC for their responsible stewardship of a renewable food resource for our countries and the world.  We look forward to the day when most of the world’s fisheries can meet the MSC standard.”

All MSC certified seafood comes from fisheries which have been independently certified to the MSC’s standard for sustainable fishing, widely recognized as the world’s most credible and robust seafood sustainability certification.

Note for editors 

* MSC certified catch within United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Major Fishing Areas compared with total reported catch (FAO 2014).