Global
Trust, an independent firm based in Ireland, has certified Alaska king and snow
crab as having met the responsible fisheries management standards for sustainable
fisheries. The announcement this week came from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Association,
which noted that Global trust has also certified as sustainable Alaska salmon, halibut,
black cod/sablefish and Pollock fisheries.
“This
certification (of crab) is a first as it is the only fishery management certification
in the crab sector with formal and official ISO 65 accreditation,” said Ray Riutta,
executive director of ASMI.
Representatives
of the Alaska Crab Coalition and Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, who are attending the
2012 European Seafood Exposition in Brussels, Belgium, applauded the news that the
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands crab fishery had met standards of the United Nations
FAO-based certification model for responsible fisheries management.
The
Purse Seine Vessel Owners Association in Seattle meanwhile announced that it would
be the client of the Alaska salmon fishery for Marine Stewardship Council certification
as a sustainable fishery. Wild Alaska salmon has MSC certification through the end
of the 2012 season, but recertification through MSC was suspended in January after
the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation withdrew as the client for MSC recertification
at the request of several major Alaska salmon processors.
PSVOA
executive director Bob Kehoe said a number of salmon processors had contacted his
organization because of their desire to maintain MSC certification for Alaska salmon.
Kehoe
said that the MSC certification had reinforced 50 years of responsible salmon management
by the state of Alaska and the unique qualities of wild Alaska salmon.
A
number of firms now offer independent third party certification of the sustainability
of individual fisheries, but the cost of certification is of concern to some processors,
as is the idea that a foreign company would be critiquing their fishery in a state
where the sustainability of fisheries is mandated by the state constitution.