January 11, 2008 - SFB Staff — Five pink and chum salmon fisheries in British Columbia have applied for assessment and several others are in the pre-assessment stage for the Marine Stewardship Council’s environmental standard for well-managed and sustainable fisheries.

“British Columbia’s wild salmon exporters are committed to meeting the requirements of their customers, including providing assurance that our salmon fisheries are sustainably managed,” said Christina Burridge, project manager at the Canadian Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Society, in a prepared statement. “We think the MSC process will also help define what sustainable management means to salmon fisheries.”

The third-party assessments of the fisheries will be carried out by Tavel Certification of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Last year, the commercial seine, troll and gillnet fisheries in British Columbia harvested about 11,000 metric tons of pink salmon and 4,100 metric tons of chum. The combined fisheries account for about 80 percent of the wild salmon landed in British Columbia.