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PFA North East Atlantic mackerel fishery 50th MSC certified fishery
PFA North East Atlantic mackerel fishery 50th MSC certified fishery
London, 10 July 2009
Certified sustainable fisheries reached a new milestone today as the 50th fishery received its Marine Stewardship Council certification. The Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA) North East Atlantic mackerel fishery has been awarded the MSC certificate following a rigorous 17-month independent assessment.
Gerard van Balsfoort, president of PFA says: “Acquiring the MSC certificate for our mackerel fishery fits perfectly well in our ambition to be competitive and to have a sustainable fisheries operation at the same time".
The PFA North East Atlantic mackerel fishery comprises 27 freezer-trawlers owned by ten companies from six EU-countries. The vessels catch mackerel using single and pair pelagic midwater trawls and land approximately 60,000 metric tonnes of North East Atlantic mackerel. This is approximately 15% of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) set for this fishery and 25% of the European Union's share in this TAC.
The North East Atlantic mackerel stock is assessed as being within safe biological limits and PFA has successfully introduced management measures to reduce undesired by-catches to low levels. An example is the ban on high grading for all PFA vessels, which has been an internal policy of the PFA since 2000. As part of the certification, however, PFA will take further management action with respect to the monitoring and reduction of undesired catches.
The mackerel fishery is the second PFA fishery to get certified. Its North Sea herring fishery was already awarded MSC certification in 2006. Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC says: “I am delighted to welcome the 50th MSC certified fishery. With the certification of their herring fishery in 2006, PFA has been instrumental in driving the certification of the North Sea pelagic fisheries [2]. I am pleased I can now congratulate them with the certification of their second and the MSC's fiftieth certified fishery".
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PFA Atlanto Scandian gets MSC certified in 8 months
The Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA) Atlanto Scandian herring fishery today secured certification against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) environmental standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries. The MSC assessment took just 8 months. The Atlanto Scandian herring fishery is PFA's third fishery to achieve MSC certification: its North Sea herring and its North East Atlantic mackerel fisheries were certified in 2006 and in 2009.
About the fishery
Around 41,000 metric tonnes of Atlanto Scandian herring caught annually will now be eligible to display the blue MSC ecolabel. In addition to its sales in the European Union, frozen Atlanto Scandian herring is sold worldwide, for example, in a number countries on the African continent.
The fishery comprises 26 freezer-trawlers owned by ten companies from six EU-countries. The vessels catch Atlanto Scandian herring using pelagic [2] midwater trawls and carry a variety of nets on board. These are designed to optimise selectivity and catching efficiency for different target species of fish.
What the PFA says
Gerard van Balsfoort, president of PFA says: “I am very pleased that another of our important fisheries has been certified against the MSC principles and criteria. It fits perfectly in our long term objective to have a responsible and economically viable fishing operation. With this third MSC certificate we are again able to give independent and objective evidence of our sustainability”.
What the MSC says
Camiel Derichs, Manager Northern Europe of the MSC says: “The PFA has been a driving force over the last years promoting MSC certified North Sea herring, in the Netherlands and abroad. I congratulate them and Moody Marine on obtaining this certification for their North Atlantic herring fisheries in only 8 months.. These fisheries are an example of a successful recovery of a once overfished species. During the MSC assessment it was demonstrated that the stock is currently around the highest level ever measured, and very carefully managed. I am confident that this certification will add to the possibilities in the marketplace for PFA”.
More information
MSC: media and request for pictures media.nl@msc.org or call +31 (0)70-360 5979
Gerard van Balsfoort, PFA: +31 (0)6-51411 431 / gbalsfoort@pelagicfish.eu
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