GADUS products
Faroe Island cod and haddock fishery gains MSC certification
Aug 20, 2012
The Faroe Island North East Arctic cod and haddock fishery has been successfully certified in accordance with the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) global standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. Its products are now eligible to carry the blue MSC ecolabel.
About the fishery
The certification covers the entire Faroese fishery for North East Arctic cod and haddock within the Barents Sea (ICES subareas I & II). The fleet consists out of two 60 meter vessels; the MV Gadus and Vesturvón. The catch is processed (filleted, headed and gutted) and frozen at sea and landed in Faroese ports, ready for export to the EU. The fishery takes place year round, using demersal trawls.
JFK delighted about MSC certification
Jógvan Hansen, General Manager at JFK Ltd says: "We are looking forward to delivering our customers frozen-at-sea MSC certified cod and haddock, because it's very important today for a company to be able to adapt with the times and this is what we at JFK have done with this certification. Furthermore this certification will open up new markets and also allow us to build on existing markets. We are very excited to see what this has installed for us.''
MSC certified Faroese cod and haddock products ready for world’s market
Anfinn Olsen, CEO at Framherji says: “We are looking forward to bringing our MSC certified cod and haddock products, directly caught and fully processed on board of our stern trawler Vesturvón, into the worlds’ markets. It is a great achievement and we are proud to say that the Faroe Island cod and haddock fishery is now certified against the MSC standard.”
MSC praises Faroese commitment to sustainable fisheries management
Camiel Derichs, MSC Deputy Director Europe says: “It’s a pleasure to congratulate JFK and partners with the first MSC certification of a Faroese demersal fishery. The assessment team from Det Norske Veritas (DNV) looked at the status of the cod and haddock stocks in the Barents Sea, the impacts from these fisheries on the ecosystem, and the overall management of these fisheries. They observed that the cod and haddock stocks in the Barents Sea are in good condition and exposed to acceptable fishing pressure. These fisheries are also selective, and have low bycatch rates and ecosystem impacts. Finally, they are subject to solid monitoring, control and surveillance by Faroese, Norwegian and Russian authorities.”
About JFK
JFK holds a cornerstone position in the history of the development of the Faroese fishing industry from small and simple fishing vessels in the early 1900s to modern fishing trawlers, high-tech fish factories, and international sales channels today.
JFK’s head office is located in Klaksvík, Faroe Islands. The sales office JFK Ltd. is located in St. Albans, United Kingdom. JFK’s fish factories, that all are vertical integrated are located in Faroe Islands and Greenland. Kósin which is the largest fish factory in the Faroe Islands is located in Klaksvík. Together with Greenlandic partners, JFK runs three fish factories in Greenland. Two factories are in Nanortalik and Qaqortoq in southern Greenland. One is located in Kuummiut in eastern Greenland.
About Framherji
Framherji was founded in 1994 as a small fishing company. Over the years the company has become one of Faroe Islands’leading operators in the fishing industry. The fleet contains a freezer trawler that fully processes and freezes fish on board as well as a pelagic trawler and a longliner vessel.
Since 2011 Framherji is co-owner of the vertically integrated seafood company Faroe Origin. The company holds eight trawler vessels, fish factories and plants which produce a wide variety of fresh and frozen fish products. Since 2003 Framherji became main partner of the Bergfrost cold storage, known for its unique cold store built within the mountains of Fuglafjørður.
More Information
For media inquiries, please contact media@msc.org
