Revision Draft

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

8950 Martin Luther King Jr. Street N. #202 St. Petersburg, Florida 33702-2211 Tel: (727) 563-9070 Fax: (727) 563-0207 Email: [email protected]

President: Andrew A. Rosenberg, Ph.D.

MRAG Americas, Inc.

Bering Sea - Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska Alaska Pollock Fisheries

MSC Fishery Announcement

Table 1 – Fishery announcement

1 Fishery name

Bering Sea - Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska Alaska Pollock Fisheries

2 Assessment number

2nd reassessment

3 Reduced reassessment (Yes/No)

Yes

4 Statement that the fishery is within scope

MRAG Americas confirms that this fishery is within scope for MSC assessment.

5 Unit(s) of Assessment - UoA(s)

UoA 1 Description

Species Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus)

Stock Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

Geographical FAO 67 area

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 1

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

Harvest Midwater trawl method/gear

Client group At-Sea Processors Association

Other eligible None at this time fishers

UoA 2 Description

Species Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus)

Stock Gulf of Alaska

Geographical FAO 67 area Harvest Midwater trawl method/gear

Client group At-Sea Processors Association

Other eligible None at this time fishers

6 Certificate sharing statement

BSAI client companies authorized to sell MSC certified Alaska pollock: Alyeska Seafoods Company; American Seafoods Company; Arctic Fjord, Inc.; Arctic Storm, Inc.; Coastal Villages; Glacier Fish Company; Golden Alaska Seafoods; Golden Harvest Alaska LLC.; Icicle Seafoods; Ocean Peace, Inc.; Peter Pan Seafoods; Premier Pacific Seafoods; Starbound LLC; Supreme Alaska Seafoods; Trident Seafoods Corporation; UniSea; Westward Seafoods

GOA client companies authorized to sell MSC certified Alaska pollock: Alyeska Sea foods Company; Icicle Seafoods; International Seafoods; North Pacific Seafoods;Ocean Beauty Seafoods; Pacific Seafood Group; Peter Pan Seafoods; Trident Seafoods Corporation; UniSea; Westward Seafoods; Global Seafoods North America, LLC

7 Name of proposed team leader

Ms. Erin Wilson will serve as team leader for the assessment. Erin joined MRAG Americas Inc. in 2015, where she currently works as a Senior Fisheries Consultant. She has worked as a team member for several MSC assessments and conducts routine audits for the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). Prior to joining MRAG Americas, she spent 2 years working at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) as a Natural Resource Specialist and Biological Technician for the Oregon Marine Reserves. She has collaborated on a multitude of projects that focus on marine science and conservation in both a biological and social science aspect. She received a M.Sc. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University and a B.S. in Zoology (with a marine emphasis) from Colorado State University, along with a Spanish minor.

MRAG Americas confirms that Ms. Wilson meets the competency criteria in Annex PC for team leader as follows:

• She has an appropriate university degree and more than five years’ experience in management and research in fisheries;

• She has passed the MSC team leader training;

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 2

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

• She has the required competencies described in Table PC1, section 2;

• She has passed the MSC Traceability training module;

• She meets ISO 19011 training requirements;

• She has undertaken two fishery assessments as a team member in the last five years, and

• She has experience in applying different types of interviewing and facilitation techniques and is able to effectively communicate with clients and other stakeholders.

MRAG Americas confirms that Ms. Wilson has no conflicts of interest in relation to the fishery under assessment.

8 Name(s) of proposed team members

Dr. Don Bowen. William Don Bowen is a Ph.D. graduate of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. He has been a research scientist at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth and an Adjunct Professor of Biology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia for more than 25 years. He is best known for his research on the ecology, energetics and population dynamics of North Atlantic phocid seals, based largely on his collaborative studies at Sable Island. His interests also include mammalian life histories, population assessment, ecological interactions with fisheries, conservation and ecosystem change. Has published over 200 scientific papers, including 155 journal articles and book chapters and two books. He has served on the USA recovery team of the Hawaiian monk seal, and as chair of the UK Special Committee on Seals. He has broad national (Natural Science and Engineering Research Council, DFO) and international (National Academy, NSF, NRC, NMFS, NERC, NRPB) experience as a science advisor and served as member of the Board and Editor of Marine Mammal Science for five years. He has considerable experience as an MSC assessor having been involved with a number of groundfish fisheries certifications (e.g., pollock, Pacific cod) in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.

MRAG Americas confirms that Dr. Bowen meets the competency criteria in Annex PC for team members as follows: • He has an appropriate university degree and more than five years’ experience in management and research in fisheries;

• He has undertaken at least two MSC fishery assessments or surveillance site visits in the last five years;

• He is able to score a fishery using the default assessment tree and describe how conditions are set and monitored.

In addition, he has the appropriate skills and experience required to serve as a Principle 2 assessor as described in FCP Annex PC table PC3, and MRAG Americas confirms he has no conflicts of interest in relation to the fishery under assessment.

Ms. Amanda Stern-Pirlot is an M.Sc graduate of the University of Bremen, Center for Marine Tropical Ecology (ZMT) in marine ecology and fisheries biology. Ms. Stern-Pirlot joined MRAG Americas in mid-June 2014 as MSC Certification Manager (now Director of the Fishery Certification Division) and is currently serving on several different assessment teams as team leader and team member. She has worked together with other scientists, conservationists, fisheries managers and producer groups on international fisheries sustainability issues for over 15 years. With the Institute for Marine Research (IFM-GEOMAR) in Kiel, Germany, she led a work package on simple indicators for sustainable within the EU-funded international cooperation project INCOFISH, followed by five years within the Standards Department at the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in London, developing standards, policies and assessment methods informed by best practices in fisheries management around the globe. Most recently she has worked with the Alaska pollock industry as a resources analyst, within the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council process, focusing on bycatch and ecosystem-based management issues, and managing the day-to-day operations of the offshore pollock cooperative. She has co-authored a dozen publications on fisheries sustainability in the

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 3

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

developing world and the functioning of the MSC as an instrument for transforming fisheries to a sustainable basis.

MRAG Americas confirms that Ms. Stern-Pirlot meets the competency criteria in Annex PC for team members as follows: • She has an appropriate university degree and more than five years’ experience in management and research in fisheries;

• She has undertaken at least two MSC fishery assessments or surveillance site visits in the last five years;

• She is able to score a fishery using the default assessment tree and describe how conditions are set and monitored;

• She has passed the MSC Traceability training module.

In addition, she has the appropriate skills and experience required to serve as a Principle 3 assessor as described in FCP Annex PC table PC3, and MRAG Americas confirms she has no conflicts of interest in relation to the fishery under assessment.

Dr. Jake Rice. Dr. Jake Rice is Chief Scientist for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada. He previously served as Director of Peer Review and Science Advice and held senior DFO Science positions in Pacific and Newfoundland Regions. He received BSc. from Cornell (1970 Conservation) and Ph. D. from University of Toronto (1974 - Ornithology). He has more than 270 publications in the scientific and technical literature, primarily on the ecosystem approach to integrated management. He is a member of the Group of Experts for the UN Regular Process for Global Marine Assessments, and a Lead Authors for the chapter on Drivers, Trends and Mitigation, for the next IPCC Assessment Report. He has been active as an expert or delegate to many UN meetings and agencies (FAO, CBD, GEF, UNEP, UNESCO-IOC, ICP, BBNJ etc.).

MRAG Americas confirms that Dr. Rice meets the competency criteria in Annex PC for team members as follows: • He has an appropriate university degree and more than five years’ experience in management and research in fisheries;

• He has undertaken at least two MSC fishery assessments or surveillance site visits in the last five years;

• He is able to score a fishery using the default assessment tree and describe how conditions are set and monitored.

In addition, he has the appropriate skills and experience required to serve as a Principle 1 assessor as described in FCP Annex PC table PC3, and MRAG Americas confirms he has no conflicts of interest in relation to the fishery under assessment.

Ms. Jodi Bostrom. Ms. Jodi Bostrom joined MRAG Americas as a Senior Fisheries Consultant and MSC Fisheries Program Manager in mid-2015. Prior to joining MRAG Americas, she spent five years working at the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in London as a Senior Fisheries Assessment Manager. Among many other things, she developed the MSC’s benthic habitats policy and the Consequence Spatial Analysis (a risk-based framework for assessing habitat impacts in data-deficient situations) as part of the MSC Standard revision. Prior to the MSC, Jodi spent 11 years with the National Academy of Sciences’ Ocean Studies Board in Washington, DC. She received an M.Sc. in Environmental Science at American University in 2006 and a B.Sc. in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin in 1999. Jodi’s main areas of work at MRAG Americas are serving on MRAG Americas’ MSC fisheries assessment teams and reviewing MSC assessment reports for technical quality and compliance. She has particular experience in the Principle 2 components of the MSC Standard.

MRAG Americas confirms that Ms. Bostrom meets the competency criteria in Annex PC for team members as follows: • She has an appropriate university degree and more than five years’ experience in

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 4

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

management and research in fisheries;

• She has undertaken at least two MSC fishery assessments or surveillance site visits in the last five years;

• She is able to score a fishery using the default assessment tree and describe how conditions are set and monitored;

• She has passed the MSC Traceability training module.

In addition, she has the appropriate skills and experience required to serve as a Principle 2 assessor as described in FCP Annex PC table PC3, and MRAG Americas confirms she has no conflicts of interest in relation to the fishery under assessment.

Paul Knapman is an independent consultant based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Paul began his career in fisheries nearly 30 years ago as a fisheries officer in the UK, responsible for the enforcement of UK and EU fisheries regulations. He then worked with the UK government’s nature conservation advisors (1993-2001), as their Fisheries Programme Manager, responsible for establishing and developing an extensive programme of work with fisheries managers, scientists, the fishing industry and ENGOs, researching the effects of fishing and integrating nature conservation requirements into national and European fisheries policy and legislation. Between 2001-2004 he was Head of the largest inshore fisheries management organisation in England, with responsibility for managing an extensive area of inshore fisheries on the North Sea coast. The organisations responsibilities and roles included: stock assessments; setting and ensuring compliance with allowable catches; developing and applying regional fisheries regulations; the development and implementation of fisheries management plans; acting as the lead authority for the largest marine protected area in England. In 2004, Paul moved to Canada and established his own consultancy providing analysis, advisory and developmental work on fisheries management policy in Canada and Europe. He helped draft the management plan for one of Canada’s first marine protected areas, undertook an extensive review on IUU fishing in the Baltic Sea and was appointed as rapporteur to the European Commission’s Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council. In 2008, Paul joined Moody Marine as their Americas Regional Manager, with responsibility for managing and developing their regional MSC business. He became General Manager of the business in 2012. Paul has been involved as a lead assessor, team member and technical advisor/reviewer for more than 50 different fisheries in the MSC programme. He returned to fisheries consultancy in 2015.

MRAG Americas confirms that Mr. Knapman meets the competency criteria in Annex PC for team members as follows: • He has an appropriate university degree and more than five years’ experience in management and research in fisheries;

• He has undertaken at least two MSC fishery assessments or surveillance site visits in the last five years;

• He is able to score a fishery using the default assessment tree and describe how conditions are set and monitored.

In addition, he has the appropriate skills and experience required to serve as a Principle 3 assessor as described in FCP Annex PC table PC3, and MRAG Americas confirms he has no conflicts of interest in relation to the fishery under assessment.

The whole assessment team collectively meets the requirements as described in FCP Annex PC table PC3.

9 Stakeholder opportunities

Provide input or comments on the Announcement Comment Draft Report (ACDR). We ask stakeholders to provide input or comments on the ACDR by 5pm GMT on June 16, 2019.

Stakeholders must use the MSC Template for Stakeholder Input into Fishery Assessments v3.0

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 5

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

(Ctrl+click to follow link)

Participate in the site visit: all team members are available to meet in person (FCP v2.1 7.12.2.e.i)

10 Assessment tree to be used

The default assessment tree contained within MSC Fisheries Certification Process version 2.1 will be

used for this assessment.

11 Estimated timeline

Month 2019 2020 Activity A M J J A S O N D J F M Preparation of Announcement Comment Draft Report MSC Announcement, team and assessment visit notification, publication of Announcement Comment Draft Report Stakeholder consultation (ongoing) Assessment visit, stakeholder meetings Consultation and confirmation of peer reviewers Client review of draft report Peer review of draft report Stakeholder review of draft report Final report/certification determination/objections period Certification decision (if no objection)

12 Site visit

A key purpose of the site visit is to collect information and to speak to stakeholders with an interest in the fishery. We encourage any stakeholders with experience or knowledge of the

fishery to participate in these meetings. (FCP v2.1 7.12.3 and Annex PF2.3.2) June 17-19, 2019 in Seattle, WA. This site visit will be in conjunction with the 4th surveillance audit for

the BSAI and GOA Alaska pollock fisheries.

13 Assessment tree modifications

There are no modifications to the assessment tree.

MRAG Americas, Inc. is pleased to announce that a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) reassessment of the BSAI and GOA Alaska pollock fisheries has begun. The assessment will evaluate the fishery for compliance with the MSC’s Standard for well-managed and sustainable fisheries. MRAG Americas has determined that the fishery is in scope.

As part of the assessment, MRAG Americas announces that stakeholder meetings and assessment of relevant documentation will be undertaken with a visit to the fishery in June. The assessment team will meet in Seattle, WA from June 17-19, 2019. The purpose of these meetings is for a fishery assessment and stakeholder consultation to receive information from fishery representatives, government management agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other interested stakeholders. MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 6

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

MRAG invites stakeholders to provide input on the Announcement Comment Draft Report or any other information considered relevant, including knowledge and concerns about the fishery and to the assessments of the fishery. Unless covered by FCP 4.4.1 any information that cannot be shared with other stakeholders even under a confidentiality agreement shall not be: referenced in the assessment, used to determine the assessment outcome or used as the basis for an objection to a certification. MRAG will schedule meetings with stakeholders if requested. To schedule a meeting please provide:

• your name and contact details • your association with the fishery • the issues you would like to discuss • where and when you would like to meet

Stakeholders may provide input at any time. We ask stakeholders who wish to meet with the team to make the request for a meeting by 5pm GMT on June 10, 2019. The deadline for input on the ACDR is June 16, 2019.

The MSC has developed a guide for stakeholder input, available at https://www.msc.org/what-you-can-do/engage- with-a-fishery-assessment and a template (MSC template for stakeholder input into fishery assessments v3.0) for stakeholder response can be found at https://www.msc.org/for-business/certification-bodies/supporting- documents. You must use the template to provide your response.

More information on the fishery is available at https://fisheries.msc.org/en/fisheries/.

Please send any documentation, requests for meetings, or inquiries to:

Amanda Stern-Pirlot MRAG Americas, Inc. 8950 Martin Luther King Jr. Street N., Suite 202 St. Petersburg FL 33702

Ph: 1-206-669-0439 Fax: 1-727-563-0207 [email protected]

Submitted by: Michealene Corlett

Date: May 14, 2019

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 7

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

Appendix 1: Summaries of CVs of team leader and team members Ms. Erin Wilson will serve as team leader for the assessment. Erin joined MRAG Americas Inc. in 2015, where she currently works as a Senior Fisheries Consultant. She has worked as a team member for several MSC assessments and conducts routine audits for the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). Prior to joining MRAG Americas, she spent 2 years working at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) as a Natural Resource Specialist and Biological Technician for the Oregon Marine Reserves. She has collaborated on a multitude of projects that focus on marine science and conservation in both a biological and social science aspect. She received a M.Sc. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University and a B.S. in Zoology (with a marine emphasis) from Colorado State University, along with a Spanish minor.

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 8

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

Programme Manager, responsible for establishing and developing an extensive programme of work with fisheries managers, scientists, the fishing industry and ENGOs, researching the effects of fishing and integrating nature conservation requirements into national and European fisheries policy and legislation. Between 2001-2004 he was Head of the largest inshore fisheries management organisation in England, with responsibility for managing an extensive area of inshore fisheries on the North Sea coast. The organisations responsibilities and roles included: stock assessments; setting and ensuring compliance with allowable catches; developing and applying regional fisheries regulations; the development and implementation of fisheries management plans; acting as the lead authority for the largest marine protected area in England. In 2004, Paul moved to Canada and established his own consultancy providing analysis, advisory and developmental work on fisheries management policy in Canada and Europe. He helped draft the management plan for one of Canada’s first marine protected areas, undertook an extensive review on IUU fishing in the Baltic Sea and was appointed as rapporteur to the European Commission’s Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council. In 2008, Paul joined Moody Marine as their Americas Regional Manager, with responsibility for managing and developing their regional MSC business. He became General Manager of the business in 2012. Paul has been involved as a lead assessor, team member and technical advisor/reviewer for more than 50 different fisheries in the MSC programme. He returned to fisheries consultancy in 2015.

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 9

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

Appendix 2: Client certificate sharing statement BSAI client companies authorized to sell MSC certified Alaska pollock: Alyeska Seafoods Company; American Seafoods Company; Arctic Fjord, Inc.; Arctic Storm, Inc.; Coastal Villages; Glacier Fish Company; Golden Alaska Seafoods; Golden Harvest Alaska LLC.; Icicle Seafoods; Ocean Peace, Inc.; Peter Pan Seafoods; Premier Pacific Seafoods; Starbound LLC; Supreme Alaska Seafoods; Trident Seafoods Corporation; UniSea; Westward Seafoods

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 10

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

Appendix 3: Draft modified tree

N/A

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 11

MRAG-MSC-F14-v2 February 2019

Appendix 4: Reduced reassessment

Table 2 – Reduced reassessment evaluation

Criteria 1 Yes / No Justification

The fishery is currently certified under the Marine Fishery was covered under previous Yes Stewardship Council and Responsible Fisheries certificate or scope extension Management Standards.

Criteria 2 Yes / No Justification

rd There are no open conditions for the fishery. No issues were No conditions remain after 3 Yes identified and no changes in the fishery occurred during surveillance audit rd the 3 surveillance audit.

Criteria 3 Yes / No Justification

Standard related stakeholder There were no standard related stakeholder comments to be comments have been addressed by Yes rd addressed. 3 surveillance

MRAG Americas US1913_S01 Pollock Announcement Page 12