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Food Certification International (FCI) has recently certified three more fisheries as being sustainable against the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard, including the first ever fishery to be certified in the western central Atlantic region.
The Suriname Atlantic seabob shrimp fishery located off Suriname, South America, is a coastal operation involving around 20 vessels, and as well as being the first fishery certified in the region, it is one of the first tropical fisheries of any description to be certified. The fishery assessment also provided the catalyst for significant changes in the way that Suriname approached sustainable fishing.
In northern Europe, FCI has certified the German Eastern Baltic cod fishery for Erzeugergemeinschaft der Nord- und Ostseefischer Gmbh against the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard – the first German cod fishery to attain the standard, and which covers most of Germany’s Baltic cod fleet. Operating both demersal trawls and seine nets, the majority of the cod caught by the 52 vessels working the fishery is landed into the ports of Sassnitz and Mukran, and once processed, is destined for domestic and export markets.
Also recently certified was Küstenfischer Nord eG Heiligenhafen Eastern Baltic cod, another German fishery that covers 17 vessels using both demersal and pelagic trawls. The principal markets for this cod fishery are France and the Netherlands.
Martin Gill, managing director of FCI, said: “Our scope of operation is continuing to expand and there is now growing recognition in fisheries around the world of the benefits offered by certification in terms of both sustainability and strategic marketing position, which is being driven by consumer and legislative pressure.”
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