The Launis Fiskekonserves A/S: Skagerrak, Kattegat and Norwegian Deeps prawn fishery has entered full assessment for Marine Stewardship Council certification. If successful, the fishery will be able to display the MSC eco-label on its products showing that they can be traced back to an independently certified, sustainable and well-managed fishery.

The Launis Fiskekonserves fishery operates in the Skagerrak and Kattegat regions around north east Denmark and the southern coast of Norway – a similar region to that fished by the North Sea and Skagerrak herring fishery that entered assessment in June 2008. Unlike the pelagic herring trawl, the Launis Fiskekonserves fishery uses a demersal trawl at depths of 150m – 400m. The 10 boats delivering to Launis Fiskekonserves A/S are contracted to the firm on a co–operation basis and are each individually independent. They deliver boiled prawns to Sweden and raw prawns to Launis Fiskekonserves A/S, Ålbæk, Denmark.

Mikkel Knudsen from Launis Fiskekonserves A/S says: “Launis Fiskekonserves A/S, work with respect for the environmental influences through our quality policy. We always aim to minimize the environmental influences. Therefore it’s a natural part of our policy, to support and work with MSC-certified fish and shellfish.  We think that the MSC-certification is a positive step, in the right direction to ensure the wild seafood stock, so that future generations also will be able to enjoy seafood products.

We are very pleased, that we have started the MSC progress together with the fishermen, and look forward to supply MSC-certified ‘Skagerrak Shrimps’ to the consumer.” 

Dan Hoggarth, Fisheries Assessment Director at the MSC says: “I am very pleased to welcome the Launis Fiskekonserves A/S: Skagerrak, Kattegat and Norwegian Deeps prawn fishery into the full assessment process. This fishery will be one of the first to benefit from the new MSC Fishery Assessment Methodology and I hope that their assessment will run smoothly and quickly as a result.”

The assessment will be carried out by independent certifier Moody Marine and is expected to take around 11 months.

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Notes to editors

[1] Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): The MSC is an international non-profit organization that was set up in 1997 to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. The MSC runs the only widely recognized environmental certification and eco-labelling program 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 utilizing scientific evidence;
- Transparent processes with built-in stakeholder consultation and objection procedures;
- Standards based on the sustainability of target species, ecosystems and management practices.
The MSC has offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Edinburgh and Berlin.  In total, more than 120 fisheries are engaged in the MSC program with 32 certified, 75 under assessment and another 20 to 30 in confidential pre-assessment.  Together the fisheries record annual catches of more than 5 million tons of seafood.  Of fish for human consumption, they represent more than 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 catch.  Worldwide, more than 1,600 seafood products resulting from the certified fisheries bear the blue MSC eco-label.  For more information, please visit www.msc.org