MSC Assessment For Faroes‘ Cod & Haddock

They will be assessed against the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries and, if successful, products from these fisheries will be eligible to display the MSC ecolabel.

The Faroe Island North East Arctic cod and haddock fisheries include one single vessel, the MV Gadus, catching cod and haddock year-round in the Barents Sea using demersal trawl.

The MV Gadus is one of only three vessels fishing on the Faroese quota of north east arctic cod and haddock and the seventy fishermen on board work in shifts to catch 3,748 tonnes of cod and haddock every year. The fish is frozen at sea and landed in Faroese ports before it is exported to the EU.

General Manager Jógvan Hansen said: “We experience an expanding demand for fish from sustainable sources from our customers and one way to prove that our fish is sustainable is to get the fisheries MSC certified.”

Camiel Derichs, Deputy Director Europe said: “Over the last year we have seen a great uptake of the MSC programme among fisheries for cod and haddock in the Barents Sea.

"Stocks of cod and haddock are very large at the moment. This is the result of positive developments in nature, such as healthy recruitment and growth, as well as the responsible management by the Norwegian Russian Fisheries Committee, who managed to keep fishing pressure in balance with the production capacity of the stocks.

"The Faroese fisheries for cod and haddock in the Barents Sea take a portion of the TAC and thus benefit from the good management and the large stock levels. I wish them success in the assessment, which will not only look at the stocks and their management, but will also carefully evaluate the impacts on the seabed, the broader eco-system and bycaught species.”

The assessment will be carried out by independent certifier, Det Norske Veritas AS (DNV) and anyone with a stake in the fishery can be involved.