British Columbia steps up MSC eco-labelling efforts

Pink and chum salmon fisheries under assessment to MSC standard

London, 10 January 2008 - The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is pleased to announce that the pink and chum salmon fisheries of British Columbia have applied for assessment to the MSC’s environmental standard for well managed and sustainable fisheries. The application comes after some European retailers made certification to the MSC standard a requirement for retaining supplier status. The MSC runs the only widely recognised environmental certification programme for wild capture fisheries and plays an important role in creating a sustainable fishing industry worldwide.

Christina Burridge, Project Manager at the Canadian Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Society, comments on the assessment announcement: “British Columbia's wild salmon exporters are committed to meeting the requirements of their customers, including providing assurance that our salmon fisheries are sustainably managed. We think the MSC process will also help define what sustainable management means for salmon fisheries.”

Dan Hoggarth, MSC’s Fisheries Director, adds: “The MSC has developed the number one environmental standard for fisheries and MSC certification plays an increasingly decisive role in retailers’ sourcing decisions worldwide. British Columbia pays tribute to this fact by putting its fisheries up to the MSC test. Currently, five BC fisheries are seeking certification to the MSC standard [2] and we understand that a few others are also in the confidential pre-assessment stage. This shows that British Columbia is very committed to addressing sustainability issues in its fisheries sector.”

In 2007, the commercial seine, troll and gillnet fisheries in British Columbia harvested a total of around 11,000 tonnes of pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and 4,100 tonnes of chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon. Together, these two fisheries account for about 80 percent of the wild caught salmon from British Columbia.

The third-party assessments of the pink and chum salmon fisheries will be carried out by TAVEL Certification [3] together with a team of experts. The assessors will look at the status of the fish stocks, the impacts the fisheries have on the marine environment and the fisheries’ management systems. They will seek input from different groups of external stakeholders to make sure that all relevant knowledge on the fisheries will be taken into account. If the fisheries are found to meet the MSC standard they may label their catch with the blue MSC eco-label and thus demonstrate to stakeholders that they adhere to strict environmental criteria.[4]

ENDS

Pictures of the fishery are available on request.

Further information:
Marnie Bammert, MSC Communications Officer, tel. +44 (0) 20 7811 3314 or +44 (0) 7917 821 207, email: marnie.bammert (at) msc.org.

Notes to Editors:
[1] The MSC is an international non-profit organisation that was set up in 1997 to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. The MSC runs the only widely recognised environmental certification and eco-labelling programme for wild capture fisheries. It is the only seafood eco-label that is consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and UN FAO guidelines for fisheries certification. The FAO ‘Guidelines for the Eco-labelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries’, require that credible fishery certification and eco-labelling schemes include:
-  Objective, third-party fishery assessment utilising scientific evidence;
-  Transparent processes with built-in stakeholder consultation and objection procedures;
-  Standards based on the sustainability of target species, ecosystems and management practices.
In total, over 80 fisheries are engaged in the MSC programme with 26 certified, 42 under assessment and another 20 to 30 in confidential pre-assessment. Together the fisheries record annual catches of over 4 million tonnes of seafood. They represent over 42 percent of the world’s wild salmon catch, 40 percent of the world’s prime whitefish catch, and 18 percent of the world’s lobster catches for human consumption. Worldwide, over 1,000 seafood products resulting from the certified fisheries bear the blue MSC eco-label. For more information, please visit www.msc.org.
[2] British Columbia sockeye salmon, Canadian Pacific halibut, Pacific hake and the British Columbia pink and chum salmon fisheries are currently seeking certification to the MSC standard.
[3] Please visit www.tavelcertify.com for more information.
[4] Details on the MSC environmental standard can be found at http://www.msc.org/html/content_504.htm.