The Isle of Man already has an international reputation for the quality and taste of its locally caught shellfish.  Today, the Isle of Man Queen Scallop Trawl Fishery took an important step to cement that growing reputation by entering the full assessment process for Marine Stewardship Council [1] certification. If successful, Manx ‘Queenies’ will be eligible to display the coveted MSC eco-label showing that they come from a sustainable and well-managed fishery.

The Manx queen scallop fishery originated in the 1960s and has grown steadily since. Queen scallops are now the second most valuable species landed to the Island. Both Manx and non-Manx vessels operate in this fishery using a variety of fishing gears. The assessment will include only the Manx Queenie trawl vessels [2].

David Callister MLC Member for Agriculture said: ‘I am delighted that the process of full assessment has commenced. This move demonstrates the commitment the Department has to sustainable management of the rich and varied fish stocks found within Manx waters. The Department has worked with Bangor University to start a research and monitoring programme that we hope will demonstrate the sustainable management of the Manx Queenie over the coming months. Achieving MSC certification will be a great boost to fishermen, processors and the reputation of the Isle of Man.’

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC said: “I am delighted that the Isle of Man Queen Scallop Trawl Fishery has entered full assessment. This is a pioneering move from a fishery keen to use the MSC assessment and certification process to demonstrate its environmental credentials to consumers who are increasingly looking for independent assurance of sustainability. I am sure that the MSC certified restaurants and retailers will follow their assessment with great interest.”

A celebration of the Manx Queenie has been taking place this week and will continue over the weekend with cookery demonstrations at the Royal Manx Agricultural Show and Marine Day at Port St Mary on Saturday. Island Seafare will have a stand at the Royal Show on Friday and Saturday selling the Islands’ fresh sea food and Marine Day will be taking place all day on the Quay in Port St Mary with Si King and Dave Myers, better known as the Hairy Bikers, with local chefs, demonstrating their own favourite recipes for Manx queenies.

Mr Callister continued: ‘This weekend provides a great opportunity for local people to get involved with two very important industries on our Island, agriculture and fishing. I hope that people will visit both the Royal Show and the Marine Day to find out more about our wonderful Manx produce and sea food.'

Ends

Notes to editors

[1] Marine Stewardship Council: 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 United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (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.
MSC has offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Edinburgh and Berlin. In total, over 120 fisheries are engaged in the MSC programme with 31 certified, 75 under assessment and another 20 to 30 in confidential pre-assessment. Together the fisheries record annual catches of over 5 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 1,600 seafood products resulting from the certified fisheries bear the blue MSC eco-label. For more information, please visit www.msc.org

[2] Up to 25 Manx vessels fish for Queenies in the summer months, which are processed by hand at 4 factories on the Island. Over 2000 tonnes were landed by the Manx fleet in 2007.