Razor Clam fishery from Ria de Pontevedra
Last Updated: 24 May 2012
Number of fisheries: 1
Species
Razor clam (“navaja”) - Ensis arcuatus
MSC assessment status
The Conformity Assessment Body, Bureau Veritas, has previously announced its intention to use the MSC’s default Assessment Tree and to use the RBF to evaluate two PIs. However the assessment team now intend to assess only PI 1.1.1 using the RBF in the scoring of the Razor Clam fishery from Ria de Pontevedra fishery against the MSC Principles and Criteria.
The default Assessment Tree is defined in the MSC Certification Requirements (CR), 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 Jacobo De Novoa by 5pm GMT, 18 June 2012.
For further information please visit the assessment downloads.
Fishery location
27 FAO zone. North Atlantic. IX a CIEM area. Ría de Pontevedra and Ons and Onza islands (Galicia, NO España; 42, 25º - 42, 45º N latitude and 8, 69º - 8, 85º de W longitude), excluding Ría de Aldán, between 0 to 12 meters depth
Fishing method
Divers (no gear, fishing by hand)
Fishery management
The fishery activities are managed by Galicia’s Regional Fisheries Goverrnment (Consellería do Mar da Xunta de Galicia).
Commercial market
Spain imports the great majority the razor clams sold in Europe and exports them like processed product to more than 40 countries worlwide.
Assessment timeline
The assessment process is expected to take 9 - 12 months and is scheduled for completion around July 2012. Please see the download section for a detailed assessment timeline.
The target eligibility date for this fishery is 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
Between 2007 and 2010 the catch has fluctuated between 50 - 60 Tonnes.
