Certified as sustainable to the MSC standard since May 2006, fishers in the North Pacific sablefish fishery abide by an annual individual fishing quota to ensure the fishery’s sustainability. The vessels in this fishery use bottom hook and line gear (longline) to capture the sablefish from Alaskan waters.

“The fishermen from Alaska wanted to acquire MSC certification as they thought it would be of great help in marketing sablefish in North America. Currently 95 percent of the sablefish is exported to Asia and our hope is that we can put 7 to 10 percent of the production into North American consumption to help stabilize our prices. The MSC label is considered the gold standard of green endorsements and that’s what our members wanted for this great product."

Bob Alverson
Executive Director, Fishing Vessel Owners Association (FVOA)

The primary market for these fish is Japan, but the US market has grown in recent years. Also known as black cod, sablefish has gained special popularity in upscale restaurants for its buttery taste and fine texture. For this reason it is also sometimes referred to as butterfish. 

For more information, visit the Fishing Vessel Owners Association website.

The fishery scored as follows in assessment against the MSC standard for sustainable fishing. The highest possible score for each principle is 100 and a fishery must score at least 80 against each principle to get certified:

Sustainability strengths

Some of the points on which the fishery scored over 90 are outlined below.

Principle 1: the state of the fish stock

• There are mechanisms in place in the fishery to reduce harvest as and when required to maintain productivity and these mechanisms are responsive, relevant and timely. There is annual stock assessment and quotas are set annually.
• Assessment models used capture all major features appropriate to the biology of the species and nature of the fishery. This makes the management relevant and appropriate.

Principle 2: the impact of the fishery on the marine environment

• The nature and distribution of habitats relevant to fishing operations are known and all the information is recent.

Principle 3: the fishery management systems

• Organizations with management responsibilities and their functions, particularly respecting interactions with other management elements, are clearly defined. Interactions between elements are effective and run smoothly.

Challenges

In order to ensure its continuing sustainable operation this fishery made a commitment to improving its performance where it scored between 60-80. Some of the actions the fishery has committed to are: 

• The fishery to demonstrate the existence of a periodic, candid and authoritative internal review process for black cod fishery management procedures and outcomes and publish the results of such a review process.
• The management system to get a response to outcomes of external and internal reviews.

The fishery: Unit of certification

The certified US north Pacific sablefish fishery is defined as:  

Surveillance audits: First certification period 2006-2011

Surveillance 4: Completed August 2010

Surveillance Report No.4 - 10th August 2010

Announcement: Annual surveillance audit - 8 June 2010

Surveillance 3: Completed July 2009

Surveillance Report No.3 - 7th July 2009

Surveillance 2: Completed May 2009

Surveillance Report No.2 - 8th May 2009

Surveillance 1: Completed January 2008

Surveillance Report No.1 - 3rd January 2008

Initial assessment: Certified May 2006

Reassessment

Certificates: Compliance with the MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable fishing

Certificate of compliance F-SCS-0019 - Valid 10th August 2011 to 9th August 2016

Stage 7: Objections procedure/public certification report and certificate issue

Public certification report - 4th August 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Issuance of public certification report - 4th August 2011

Stage 6: Final report and determination

Final report and determination - 12th July 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Announcement of final report and determination - 12th July 2011

Stage 5: Pubic review of the draft assessment report

Public Comment Draft Report - 19th May 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Public comment draft report released - 19th May 2011

Stage 4: Client and peer review

Revised assessment timeline - 18th April 2011

Variation response: Extension to certificate - 14th April 2011

Variation request: Extension to certificate - 14th April 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Confirmation of Peer Reviewers - 9th December 2010

Stakeholder Notification: Peer reviewers proposed - 18th November 2010

Stage 3: Information gathering, stakeholder meetings and scoring

Stakeholder Notification: Confirmation of site visit location - 20th June 2010

Stakeholder Notification: Site visit scheduled - 8 June 2010

Stage 2: Building the Assessment Tree

Stakeholder Notification: Confirmation of default assessment tree - 30th July 2010

Stakeholder Notification: Announcement of default assessment tree - 8 June 2010

Stage 1: Announcement and assessment team formation

Stakeholder Notification: Assessment team nominated - 18th May 2010

• Curriculum Vitae: Jon Sutinen

• Curriculum Vitae: Steve Martell
• Curriculum Vitae: Tim Essington
  

Stakeholder Notification: Announcement of full re-assessment - 11th May 2010

Fishing Vessel Owners' Association

4005 - 20th Ave. West, Room 232
Seattle, WA 98199
USA
Tel:+1 (206) 284-4720 / 283-7735
Fax:+1 (206) 283-3341

Contact: Bob Alverson
robertalverson@msn.com

Certification Body

SCS

 2200 Powell Street
Suite 725
Emeryville,
CA 94608
U.S.A.
Phone: (+1) 510-452-9086
Fax: (+1) 510-452-6884

Adrienne Vincent
E-mail: avincent@scscertified.com

Contact: Sabine Daume
Email: sdaume@scscertified.com
phone: 510 452 6388
fax +1 (510) 452-6844

www.scscertified.com

Summary

Species:  Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)
Location:  Alaska, USA
Fishing methods:  Longline
Number of fisheries:  1

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Download Fishers' stories - Net Benefits 2009 - US North Pacific sablefish (PDF, 200kb)

More about sablefish

Sablefish, also known as black cod, inhabit the northeastern Pacific Ocean from northern Mexico to the Gulf of Alaska, westward to the Aleutian Islands and into the Bering Sea. Adult sablefish occur along the continental slope, shelf gullies and in deep fjords, generally at depths greater than 200 metres. Sablefish grow rapidly during their first several years, reaching an average maximum length of and weight of 70cm and 3.4kgs respectively.

More about the fishing methods

Sablefish is caught by longline, a fishing technique where hundreds or thousands of baited hooks branching from a single line are used. Sablefish are targetted through longlines that are set along the ocean bottom in preferred sablefish habitat. 

Fishery tonnage

18,100 metric tonnes

Commercial market

The primary market is Japan, but the US market has been increasing over the past few years.