02 February 2011
Seafood Shetland in partnership with the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group (SSMG) has entered its mussel fishery for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Assessment. If successful, the fishery’s products will be eligible to bear the MSC ecolabel which the partnership believes will be a great boon for the industry, opening up new markets in the UK and further afield.
The fishery produces blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) grown on static ropes suspended in the clean waters around Shetland and the Scottish coast. At present, most of the mussels are sold in UK supermarkets, foodservice and an increasing European export markets.
Support for progressing to Full Assessment has been provided by The Co-operative Group, by way of a £20,000 donation from its Sustainable Fishing Fund. The £200,000 Sustainable Fishing Fund was created in 2008 to improve the sustainability of UK fisheries.
The partnership arrangement with SSMG was a logical move given that much of Shetland’s mussel tonnage is sold through SSMG.
Chief executive of Seafood Shetland, Ruth Henderson, said: “We are delighted that we could proceed to Full Assessment, together with SSMG.
“Shetland’s mussel farming industry has been built on its outstanding reputation for product quality, with 3,698 metric tonnes produced in 2009, equating to 65 per cent of Scottish tonnage.
“We are very grateful for the financial support received through the LEADER programme, which supported the cost of Pre-Assessment.
“The generous donation by The Co-operative is very much appreciated and will assist us as we move to Full Assessment.”
Stephen Cameron, managing director of SSMG continued: “By undergoing the MSC’s independent assessment process, we will provide our members with the opportunity to reach new markets at home and overseas; particularly in sectors seeking producers who can demonstrate their sustainable and responsible working practices.”
Claire Pescod, UK Fishery Outreach Manager for the MSC says: “I’m delighted that Seafood Shetland and the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group have decided to enter their fisheries for MSC assessment. This is the first Scottish enhanced fishery to enter the MSC programme. It’s great to see such a large part of the Scottish mussel industry moving forward to prove their sustainability credentials. I know that the UK retail and restaurant sectors will be delighted with the announcement and, if the fishery is successful, I look forward to choosing MSC certified Scottish mussels in the future.”
The assessment will be carried out by independent certifier, Food Certification International (FCI). Anyone with a stake in the fishery can be involved. If you would like to be involved as a stakeholder, please contact Melissa McFadden on melissa.mcfadden@foodcertint.com
For a guide to taking part in MSC assessment as a stakeholder, please visit: www.msc.org/documents/get-certified/stakeholders.
End
Further information:
For further information, please contact: Ruth Henderson, Seafood Shetland, tel 01595 693644 or email ruth@fishuk.net
Or James Simpson, Marine Stewardship Council on +44 (0)207 811 3315 or email james.simpson@msc.org
Or, Louise Rosie, Shaw Marketing and Design Ltd, tel 01595 692465 or email louise.rosie@shaw-online.com
Notes to editors:
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organisation set up to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. The MSC runs the only certification and ecolabelling programme for wild-capture fisheries consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation guidelines for fisheries certification. The FAO ‘Guidelines for the Eco-labelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries’ require that credible fishery certification and eco-labelling schemes include:
The MSC has offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Edinburgh, Berlin, Cape Town, Paris and Stockholm.
In total, over 240 fisheries are engaged in the MSC programme with 102 certified and over 140 under full assessment. Another 40 to 50 fisheries are in confidential pre-assessment. Together, fisheries already certified or in full assessment record annual catches of close to seven million metric tonnes of seafood, representing over 12 per cent of global capture production for direct human consumption. The fisheries already certified catch close to five million metric tonnes of seafood annually – over seven per cent of the total wild capture for direct human consumption. Worldwide, more than 8,000 seafood products, which can be traced back to the certified sustainable fisheries, bear the blue MSC ecolabel.
For more information on the work of the MSC, please visit www.msc.org
LEADER is part of the new Scotland Rural Development Programme, aimed at promoting economic and community development within rural areas.