Norwegian herring and mackerel fisheries apply for MSC certification

– Two Norwegian fisheries have applied to be assessed for certification under the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. If successful the Norwegian Spring spawning herring fishery and Norwegian North East Atlantic mackerel fishery will be to display the distinctive blue MSC eco-label on their catch.

“Recently an initiative was taken by the Norwegian Fishing Industry to undergo a full assessment of both Atlanto-Scandic fisheries for herring and mackerel to be caught by Norwegian fishermen in the forthcoming season.
The aim of the assessment is to have these fisheries certified under the MSC- standard,” says Knut Torgnes, Sales Director of Norges Sildesalgslag.

Dr Andrew Hough from Moody Marine says, "Moody Marine has recently increased our fishery auditor capacity, including fishery auditors based in Scandinavia. As a result, we aim to undertake the assessment for the spring-spawning herring and mackerel fisheries in around 9 months.

There are some particular issues to address, however, including some overlap in scope between the Norwegian mackerel fishery and other mackerel fisheries already certified and under assessment.
This will require a harmonisation of the assessments.

 

Read more on http://www.msc.org/html/ni_341.htm