Maldivian national Seema Ali, who already has considerable experience in fisheries assurance, recently completed a formal training course on MSC certification standards, which was overseen by Kat Collinson of MEP.
Kat said: “It is great to have someone based in the Maldives who can take on new MSC assessment programmes and also manage existing ones, for example through surveillance audits. Seema has embraced the role with great enthusiasm and she will also be well placed to take on new and existing MSC assessments in other parts of the Indian Ocean such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Whilst in the Maldives, Kat also undertook MSC Chain of Custody surveillance audits of the Maldives skipjack tuna pole and line fishery, which was first certified in 2012.
The MSC Chain of Custody (CoC) standard for seafood traceability ensures that the MSC ecolabel is only displayed on seafood from an MSC certified sustainable fishery. It means that consumers and seafood buyers can have confidence that the fish they buy comes from a fishery that meets the MSC environmental standard for sustainable fishing.
