First silver smelt fishery enters MSC assessment
The Faroese company Tavan SP/F has entered its Great Silver Smelt (Argentina silus) fishery for full MSC assessment. The fishery will be assessed against the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries, and is the first silver smelt fishery in the MSC programme, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to MSC.
About the fishery
The fishery takes place around the Faroe Islands and the Faroe Plateau where six vessels, using semi-pelagic Demersal trawls, catch around 20.000 tonnes of silver smelt annually. These six vessels are the only vessels licensed to fish silver smelt in Faroese waters and their catch equals the country's entire quota. Norway and the EU are the main markets for Faroese silver smelt and if the MSC assessment is successfully completed, products from the fishery will be eligible to carry the MSC ecolabel.
What the Fishery says
"We have always focused on producing a high quality product", says Joen Magnus Rasmussen, managing director of Tavan SP/F, "and together with the ship-owners we have focused on exploiting the silver smelt stock on a sustainable basis. Several years ago we agreed not to take more out of the stocks than the fishery authorities and fishery researchers recommended. It was, therefore, natural for us to continue along this path and apply for MSC certification".
MSC certified fishcakes in the future!
Camiel Derichs, Deputy Director Europe for the MSC says: "Silver Smelt is one of these less known species that is used in a wide variety of seafood products, such as the famous Scandinavian fish cakes. Over the next months the fishery will be able to demonstrate in a robust and transparent assessment process if it meets the MSC standards for sustainable fishing. Amongst other things, the status and management of the stock as well as the impact of the fishery on the eco-system will be assessed. We welcome to the Faroese Silver Smelt fishery to full MSC assessment, and I look forward to MSC certified fishcakes in the future!"
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. If you would like to be involved as a stakeholder, please contact Sandhya Chaudhury on +47 55 94 36 00 or email Sandhya.Chaudhury@dnv.com.