NET BENEFITS the First Ten Years of MSC Certified Sustainable Fisheries Contents from the Chief Executive
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NET BENEFITS The first ten years of MSC certified sustainable fisheries Contents From the Chief Executive From the Chief Executive 03 make the ‘best environmental choice’. to acknowledge the vital role of our Sea change: 10 years of the Marine Stewardship Council 04 We became a fully independent, funders whose collective and Map of MSC certified fisheries 06 operational, international, not for profit generous support has sustained the organisation in 1999. MSC over our first decade. Some of Western Australia rock lobster 08 our major funders have supported us A decade on, as demonstrated in the Thames Blackwater herring drift-net 10 from the beginning. This funding has stories of these pioneering fisheries, it Alaska salmon 12 been crucial and has enabled us to is clear that greater demand for New Zealand hoki 14 develop the partnerships and working credible certified sustainable seafood Burry Inlet cockles 16 relationships that have been the is driving positive change in the way foundation of the programme’s South-west handline mackerel 18 the oceans are fished. Today over success and growing influence. We Loch Torridon nephrops creel 20 150 fisheries around the world are are also indebted to the marine South Georgia Patagonian toothfish longline 22 engaged at some stage of the conservation NGOs and the scientific South Africa hake trawl 24 independent assessment process. community that have been central to Mexico Baja California red rock lobster 26 These fisheries land over 6 million establishing the credibility of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands pollock and Gulf of Alaska pollock 28 tons of seafood – about 7% of the This year the MSC celebrates 10 MSC standard for environmentally Hastings fleet Dover sole, herring and mackerel 30 annual global wild harvest. years of partnership and progress. responsible and sustainable fishing. Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Alaska (Pacific) cod 32 It is a decade since the first fisheries MSC owes a tremendous debt to the - freezer longline Whilst the following pages entered the MSC programme and to fisheries featured in this publication demonstrate that we all have a great Australia mackerel icefish 34 mark the occasion we have produced – the first 42 fisheries to achieve MSC deal to celebrate it is clear that much US North Pacific halibut 36 this publication to recognise and certification. They had the courage, more needs to be done and urgently Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association North Sea herring 38 celebrate their success and to tell commitment and foresight to invest if we are to ensure the future US North Pacific sablefish 40 their stories in their own words. in the then young and evolving health and productivity of our oceans. Lake Hjälmaren pikeperch fish-trap and gill-net 42 programme and have created the Looking back, it has been an amazing We look forward to building on the Patagonian scallop 44 supply upon which a rapidly growing journey. It began when WWF and achievements of this first decade American Albacore Fishing Association Pacific albacore tuna 46 market for sustainable seafood is Unilever came together in the by working together with all of our - north and south dependent. In turn we are also wake of the collapse of the Grand partners towards accomplishing North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee sea bass 48 extremely grateful to the many Banks cod fishery to create a market our vision of the world’s oceans Oregon pink shrimp 50 seafood businesses and retailers based programme to promote and teeming with life, and seafood Astrid Fiske North Sea herring 52 around the world who have put encourage sustainable fishing. Both supplies safeguarded for this and Lakes and Coorong, South Australia 54 seafood sustainability at their heart of organisations were deeply concerned future generations. their procurement strategies. Today Norway North Sea saithe and Norway north-east Arctic saithe 56 about the future health and the market for MSC certified Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group (SPSG) North Sea herring 58 productivity of our oceans and sustainable seafood is estimated to Canada northern prawn and Gulf of St Lawrence northern 60 the sustainability of seafood be worth over $1.5 billion. There are shrimp trawl Esquiman Channel supplies into the future. MSC also over 2500 individual MSC Kyoto Danish Seine Fishery Federation snow crab 62 was created as a market-based and flathead flounder labeled products available in 52 certification and eco-labelling Gulf of St Lawrence northern shrimp and Gulf of St Lawrence 64 countries around the world. northern shrimp trawl fishery Esquiman Channel programme to recognise and reward environmentally responsible and I would like to thank all those Germany North Sea saithe trawl 66 sustainable fishing practices and individuals and organisations who Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group (SPSG) western 68 Rupert Howes component of north east Atlantic mackerel importantly, to empower consumers have been central to the Domstein Longliner Partners North East Arctic 70 through the use of the label to establishment of the MSC. I also want Chief Executive, September 2009 cod and haddock Cover photo: South-west handline mackerel fishery, UK © John Spaul; South Africa hake fishery, South Africa © John White / MSC; American Albacore Fishing Association Pacific albacore tuna, US © Fishes Holding BV; US North Pacific sablefish, US © Peter Thompson; Domstein Longliner Partners North East Arctic cod and haddock, Norway © Alice Blålid; Alaska salmon, US © Chris Arend Photography; Mexico Baja California red rock lobster, Mexico. 3 Sea change: 10 years of the Marine Stewardship Council by Andrew Purvis EVER SINCE 1999, when the first which the MSC programme is contributing may lead to changes in the way other entirely on fresh fish sales. Now, it is beyond price premiums. When the Influence on policy fisheries joined its embryonic programme, to improving the health of our oceans. fisheries are managed. It also co-operated winning freezing contracts for fillets – a Australian government implemented Again, the experience of the South Africa the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) with government scientists on mapping totally new market area – because German legislation requiring businesses to be hake fishery (page 24) is pertinent. In has helped bring to our attention an deep coral areas closed to trawlers, to retailers (notably the big discounters, audited and certified in order to export response to one MSC condition, it astonishing and sustainable resource. see if they were damaged or depleted by Aldi and Lidl) are requesting MSC-certified seafood, MSC certification was accepted introduced tori lines (streamers flown from frozen product. In Bristol Bay, Alaska, On the eve of the organisation’s 10th static gear. as an alternative mechanism to meet this vessels to keep birds away from bait and anniversary year, there were over 2,000 demand from big retailers has led requirement, saving the fishery the costs of In another case, gains came as a direct gear) on a voluntary basis. These are now products and close to 2.5 million tonnes producers of Alaska salmon (page 12) export certification. result of “chain of custody” certification mandatory on all trawling vessels in South of sustainable seafood carrying the MSC away from lower-value canning and into – through which all seafood carrying the Africa, an example of how fisheries in ecolabel. But behind the blue ecolabel on value-added markets such as filleting, chill- MSC logo is traceable all the way back to the MSC programme can influence the products are the men and women ing and freezing. the certified fishery. To qualify, the South government policy. South African fisheries from MSC-certified fisheries worldwide Georgia Patagonian toothfish fishery in Some fishers reported price premiums. managers also recognise that long-term who have made it possible by honing best the South Atlantic (page 22) requires its The main beneficiaries have been collaboration opportunities between practice on a daily basis. Together, they entire catch to be weighed, box by box, smaller-scale, artisanal fisheries – many of industry and regulators have been fostered know just about everything there is under government control in the Falkland which have survived and prospered as a as a result of the MSC assessment to know about sustainable fisheries Environmental benefits Islands. This measure ensures to buyers result of more favourable prices. In process. In Europe, where most of the management. Australia, the Lakes and Coorong fishery major herring fisheries (pages 30, 38, 52 Does certification make a fishery more and consumers that the certified catch (page 54) says it regularly commands and 58) are either MSC certified or under In this 10th anniversary booklet, that is the sustainable, or does it simply reward best does not come from vessels fishing premiums of 30 to 50 per cent for MSC assessment, their critical mass has changed resource that is being celebrated – and to practice that exists already? Many fisheries illegally in other toothfish fisheries. certified versus non-certified seafood sold the mood of EU fishing negotiations. Quotas find out how the MSC programme is have been fishing sustainably for longer © Carey Schumacher to restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne. In and other business are now handled in a helping fisheries a decade after setting than the MSC has been in existence but, a community where fishing and related more precautionary way, with the judgment out its stall, I asked fishers and client as this booklet