Clams and Cockle fishery from Ria de Arousa

Last Updated: 2 February 2012
Number of fisheries: 4

Species

Cockle (Cerastoderma edule)
Pullet carpet shell (Venerupis pullastra)
Grooved carpet shell (Ruditapes decussatus)
Short-necked clam (Ruditapes philippinarum)

MSC assessment status

The Conformity Assessment Body, Bureau Veritas, has announced its intention to use the MSC’s default Assessment Tree and to use the RBF in place of the default Assessment Tree to evaluate PIs 1.1.1, 2.2.1, 2.4.1 and 2.5.1 in the scoring of the Clams and cockle fishery from Ria De Arousa fishery against the MSC Principles and Criteria.

The default Assessment Tree is defined in the MSC Fisheries Assessment Methodology (FAM), available for download here.  Information on the Risk Based Framework is available here.
Any persons wishing to comment on this proposed use of the Default Assessment Tree and RBF are invited to contact Mr Jacobo De Novoa by 5pm GMT, 1 March 2012.

The Conformity Assessment Body, Bureau Veritas, has also announced that the Clams and cockle fishery from Ria De Arousa fishery is now entering the information gathering phase of the assessment. The primary objective of this stage is to collect information on the fishery and in particular to speak to representatives of the fishery, fishery management bodies and other stakeholders of the fishery. Meetings will be carried out over the period 6-9 March 2012 in Abanqueiro.

Because this assessment will use the Risk-Based Framework for PIs 1.1.1, 2.2.1, 2.4.1 and 2.5.1, the certification body will request stakeholders to participate at meetings to obtain qualitative information about this fishery

Any stakeholder with information on this fishery that should be considered in the assessment, who wishes to meet with Bureau Veritas, or who wishes to participate in RBF meetings, should contact Mr Jacobo De Novoa , no later than 17 February 2012.

Please refer to the assessment downloads for further information.

Fishery location

Ria de Arousa (Punta Portomouro to Punta Pedra Rubia area). FAO zone 27. North Atlantic

Fishing method

Fishermen walking with hand devices or on boards with hand devices.

Fishery management

Commercial market

The main market for clams is Spain.

Assessment timeline

The assessment process is expected to take between 9-12 months and is scheduled for completion around 09/2012. Please see the download section for a detailed assessment timeline.

The target eligibility date for this fishery is the 31/07/2012.

The MSC ecolabel can only be applied to product from certified fisheries. The MSC program does allow, in certain circumstances and within strict traceability requirements, the MSC ecolabel to be applied following certification to product caught before the actual date of certification. The target eligibility date therefore represents the date from which products may become eligible to carry the MSC ecolabel, however they cannot be sold until and if the fishery is certified. The actual eligibility date will be determined if the fishery is certified to the MSC standard.

To find out more about when fish from this fishery may be sold with the MSC ecolabel, please follow this link (http://www.msc.org/get-certified/supply-chain/eligibility-dates).

Tonnage of the fishery

7000 - 8000 Mt