Pollock Catchers Association completed MSC certification of East Sakhalin pollock fishery

Russia’s Pollock Catchers Association (PCA) has successfully completed the process of extending the scope of the existing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate for pollock fishery in the East Sakhalin subzone, reports Megafishnet.com

In particular, PCA President Alexey Buglak quoted by Fishnews has confirmed that the association received the MSC certificate for East Sakhalin pollock trawl fishery on March 16.

This is the only area within the Russian EEZ in the Sea of Okhotsk that was not covered by the certification in 2013. Unlike other subzones of the Sea of Okhotsk – North Okhotsk, West Kamchatka and Kamchatka-Kuril – here there is no ban on dedicated pollock fishing in the period from April to mid-October, early November. Now all the pollock catches made by the members of the association in all areas of the Sea of Okhotsk are considered to originate from an environmentally sustainable fishery.

According to Bulgak, the certification procedure was launched at the end of 2019 in accordance with the decision of the general meeting of the association. This allowed to complete the certification process without a single condition by the beginning of the fishing season.

In 2021 the pollock TAC in the East Sakhalin subzone is set at 126 thousand metric tons. According to PCA estimates, out of the total about 100 thousand tons fall under the certificate as about the same volume of pollock is harvested by PCA member companies.