August 6, 2008 (Seattle, WA)—An additional fishery in Nova Scotia, the Eastern Canada offshore lobster fishery, has entered full assessment for certification to the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) sustainability standard.  Yesterday, the Eastern Canada offshore sea scallop fishery also entered assessment.

Opened in 1971, the Eastern Canada offshore lobster fishery operates under licenses held by Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership, the client for this full assessment process.  In this fishery, four vessels using lobster traps capture an annual quota of 720 metric tons of lobster (Homarus americanus). 

Lobsters in this fishery take at least 7–8 years to reach the legal capture size of 82.5 mm. (3.25 in.) in carapace length, at which point they weigh approximately 0.45 kg. (1 lb.).  They are landed whole and are generally sold in the live market.  Other products include raw frozen lobster in the shell and frozen lobster meat.  Approximately 75 percent of the landed catch is sold into the U.S.A., with another 20 percent exported to other international markets—primarily Europe, followed by Japan.

“We are very pleased to see the Eastern Canada offshore lobster fishery coming forward to pursue MSC certification.  This is the second Nova Scotia fishery in a week moving to measure its sustainability against the MSC standard,” said Brad Ack, regional director for MSC’s Americas program.  “Lobster is a highly coveted seafood worldwide.  Consumers and seafood businesses are increasingly demanding sustainable sources of it—and the third-party assurance of sustainability that MSC certification can provide.” 

Clearwater CEO Colin MacDonald said, “We pride ourselves on being the industry leader in providing premium quality, hardshell, fully meated lobster to the marketplace and in employing science and technology to perfect our lobster-friendly handling and storage systems.  As a company we are committed to sustainable fisheries, and we are now seeking the MSC eco-label as a means to demonstrate to our customers the sustainability of this fishery, which we feel is among the best managed lobster fisheries in the world.”

The assessment will analyze three major aspects of the lobster fishery, in accordance with the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries: the status of the lobster stock; the impact of the fishery on the marine ecosystem; and the performance of the fishery management system. 

Moody Marine Ltd., the independent certifier that will conduct this assessment, estimates the process will take 12 to 14 months.

About 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-labeling 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-labeling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries” require that credible fishery certification and eco-labeling 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 31 certified, 74 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.