The assessment will cover all of the 121 vessels with a license for one or more of the target species and represents the main shellfish species caught within 6 nautical miles (around 7 miles) of the Shetland shore.
The inshore shellfish fishery in Shetland is of great historical, cultural and above all, currently economic and social importance. For example, landings in 2007 into Shetland were valued at the point of first sale at £2.1m for scallops, and around £0.85m for velvet and brown crabs.
Jennifer Mouat of the Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation said “We are very pleased to have taken this next step into full assessment. We recognise that well-managed fisheries are key to the long term future of the industry as well as being a cornerstone of island communities such as Shetland. This is an opportunity for us to measure ourselves against MSC's high standards for well-managed and sustainable fisheries and look to the future possibilities which this will bring.”
Shetland Shellfish Start MSC Assessmet
UK - The Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation has entered its brown crab, velvet crab, European lobster potting fishery and Shetland inshore scallop dredging fishery into assessment for MSC certification. If successful, products from the fishery will be eligible to carry the MSC ecolabel.
