Northseafood processes over 40% more MSC-certified plaice in 2011

"We see an increasing demand for MSC-certified plaice", says Pieter Post, account manager at NorthSeafood. "Compared to 2010 we contracted over 40% more MSC-certified plaice from our partner Ekofish group. Their trawlers sail out to catch the first plaice of this season this week.", reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to NorthSeafood.

Northseafood contracted Ekofish group for the third year on a row. "What started relatively small is becoming more and more a serious business", explains Post. "We deliver this MSC-plaice to markets in Sweden and England. At the same time we are getting requests from the Netherlands and Germany. We see an increasing trend of purchasing organizations and retailers who want to serve their customers in a more sustainable way."

"The contract with Ekofish group implies the next deal, we buy the plaice size four. It's a relative small fish but is highly demanded within the retail frozen food market. It is also the most caught sized plaice.

The choice for MSC-certified plaice is not an individual case. Post: "The demand for certified fish increases, but the constant focus for quality assurance remains an issue. We organized a meeting with the fishermen crews of Ekofish group last week. Together we discussed our common goal to develop ways to increase the quality of their landed catch. We want to keep ourselves focused and in particular keep the quality of the caught fish at a constant high level. A large part of the products quality is defined by that", concludes Post.