A 'new choice' in seafood certification

Click here for a press release and fact sheets about Certified Seafood International.

And here's a look at the organization's board of directors. One director is a policy analyst for Silver Bay Seafoods, and another is CEO for the At-sea Processors Association.

MSC update

Marine Stewardship Council certification for Alaska's salmon fisheries was to expire Nov. 11, but the certification has been extended for five months.

Here are two documents explaining the situation.

Extension request
Extension response

Prince William Sound salmon joins MSC club

Prince William Sound is no longer excluded — the region's salmon fishery has been certified as well-managed and sustainable under the Marine Stewardship Council program.

Here are the two key documents:

Certification report — Executive summary on Pages 5-8.

Certificate of conformity

We're dumping the MSC — really!

Deckboss just received this open letter from Alaska salmon processors "reaffirming" their intent to withdraw from the Marine Stewardship Council certification program.

The 27 processors signing onto the statement say they represent 80 percent of the salmon caught in Alaska.

MSC 'corrects' ASMI statements

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's "own, locally developed scheme" for certifying fisheries is not comparable to the Marine Stewardship Council's "global standard," the London-based MSC says.

Read much more here.

The spin from ASMI

A state agency, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, has issued a press release addressing yesterday's news that the bulk of Alaska's salmon industry will allow its Marine Stewardship Council certification to expire.

The release quotes Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, state Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell, ASMI Executive Director Ray Riutta and United Fishermen of Alaska chief Arni Thomson.

The general message seems to be, "We don't really need MSC certification."

Alaska salmon is covered under an alternative certification, ASMI notes.

Alaska salmon industry bails on MSC

Here's statement just in from the Marine Stewardship Council:

Jan. 17, 2012

MSC statement regarding Alaska salmon

The Marine Stewardship Council has been informed by the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, the organization that serves as the client for the Alaska salmon fishery, that it is withdrawing the fishery from assessment toward a possible third five-year certification.

The existing MSC certification runs until Oct. 29, and any Alaska salmon caught prior to that date may be sold as MSC-certified.

Kerry Coughlin, MSC Americas regional director, said: "We regret that the Alaska salmon fishery is being withdrawn from the assessment under way for a potential third certification period. While there are other sources of MSC-certified salmon, Alaska was an early and important leader in the MSC program. We hope that this fishery will re-enter assessment, maintain the market advantage of MSC certification, and continue to showcase their sustainability.

"The number of fisheries and supply chain companies using the MSC program continues to expand worldwide, and consumer appreciation for the MSC ecolabel on products is increasing. MSC remains the recognized global standard by which fisheries confirm they are meeting or improving to global best practice in sustainable fishing as established by a wide consensus of scientists, industry experts and conservation organizations. By demanding a scientifically rigorous, transparent certification process using truly independent, third-party assessments, seafood markets around the world are helping to protect our ocean resources as well as seafood-related jobs and livelihoods now and for the future."

The third assessment was announced by the Alaska salmon fishery on Nov. 18. A certifier had been engaged by AFDF, the first site visit in the assessment process had been scheduled for later this month in Alaska and a number of conservation organizations had registered as stakeholders. The fishery, first certified in 2000 and recertified in 2007, includes Chinook, chum, coho, pink and sockeye salmon throughout Alaska waters. It does not include the tribally managed Annette Islands Reserve salmon fishery in southeast Alaska, which continues in the program and holds its own separate MSC certification.

Certificates for all other MSC-certified species in Alaska are also unaffected by the change in status for the state-managed Alaska salmon assessment.

Certified, again

Alaska's halibut and sablefish fisheries have been recertified as sustainable and well-managed.

Here's the press release from the Marine Stewardship Council.

Four out of five ain't bad

The Metlakatla Indian Community has won Marine Stewardship Council certification for its salmon fishery in waters surrounding the Annette Islands Reserve, a federal Indian reservation in Southeast Alaska.

The MSC certification, which signifies sustainable management, covers pink, chum, coho and king salmon taken with gillnet, seine or troll gear.

And what about sockeye, you ask?

The MSC press release mentions something about "depleted local sockeye salmon populations."

Another salmon certification

More than a year ago we told you the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute had chosen an Irish outfit, Global Trust, to potentially certify the state's commercial fisheries as well-managed.

Well, now comes word that the salmon fishery has, in fact, been found to measure up against United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization criteria.

Not exactly a shock there.

This builds on the sustainability certification Alaska salmon already holds from the London-based Marine Stewardship Council.

For more information, click here or read the ASMI press release.

Bering Sea pollock fishery recertified sustainable

Here's the press release from the Marine Stewardship Council.

Canadian sablefish — it's sustainable!

Deckboss received word today that the Marine Stewardship Council has certified the Canadian sablefish fishery off British Columbia as sustainable and well-managed.

Here's the press release.

Alaska sablefish earned MSC certification in 2006.

MSC certifies Alaska flatfish as sustainable

Last month we noted the Marine Stewardship Council was close to certifying Alaska's flatfish harvest as sustainable and well-managed.

Well, today comes this announcement that Alaska flatfish has indeed achieved the MSC eco-label.

Flatfish trawlers target a variety of soles, flounder and plaice.

The MSC announcement asserts the flatfish harvesters have
"significantly reduced bycatch" and cut the bottom contact of their trawl gear by 90 percent.

Oceana: 'Sustainable' argument falls flat for flatfish

Do the huge trawl fisheries for flounder and sole in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands merit the Marine Stewardship Council's label as sustainable seafood harvests?

The conservation group Oceana doesn't think so, as it explains in this press release.

"Last year these flatfish draggers killed and wasted almost 8 million pounds of halibut and tens of millions of pounds of other species," writes Oceana biologist Jon Warrenchuk.

He adds: "How can that waste be construed as sustainable?"

Certifiable

An Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute committee has picked a firm to certify the state's major commercial fisheries as sustainably managed.

The apparent winning bidder is Global Trust, based in Ireland.

The firm does not have the contract yet. At this point, a committee of ASMI staff and board members has selected it from a pool of several bidders.

The ASMI board will consider Global Trust at its March 2-3 meeting in Juneau, ASMI spokeswoman Laura Fleming tells Deckboss.

Now, I know what you're thinking: Doesn't that London outfit, the Marine Stewardship Council, already certify Alaska's fisheries?

Yes and no. Certain segments of the industry have won MSC certification, such as Alaska salmon and Bering Sea pollock.

The ASMI contractor will evaluate Alaska fisheries more comprehensively to include salmon, groundfish, halibut and crab, according to this request for proposals the institute posted back in December.

MSC eco-label likely to stay on Alaska pollock

The commercial quota for Bering Sea pollock has taken a tumble in recent years, but it appears the still-huge fishery is in line to keep its Marine Stewardship Council certification as a sustainable and well-managed fishery.

Here's an industry press release just out today.

What? Alaska salmon not MSC-certified?

Here's news that the Metlakatla Indian Community in Southeast Alaska will seek Marine Stewardship Council certification.

It seems the Metlakatla tribe, in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, manages a small commercial salmon fishery around Annette Island and neighboring isles south of Ketchikan.

The state manages the rest of Alaska's vast salmon fisheries. And, as regular visitors to this blog know, the state has achieved MSC certification for Alaska salmon as a sustainable fishery.

All the best to Metlakatla.

But one wonders what happens if the Annette Island Reserve salmon fishery doesn't qualify for the MSC ecolabel.

Will we no longer be able to say without qualification that "Alaska salmon" is MSC-certified?