A group of Alaska salmon processors looking to regain access to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate held by the Alaska Salmon Processors Association (ASPA) will meet for a mediation session on Monday, 8 June.
The meeting, requested by the MSC, is the latest in an ongoing dispute between the processors and ASPA, which has refused to allow the processors to rejoin the certificate.
The processors participating in the mediation include Alaska General Seafoods, Alaska Glacier Seafoods, Bering Pacific Seafoods, Big Creek Fisheries, Deep Sea Fisheries, Great Pacific Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, Icy Straits, Kwikpak Fisheries, Leader Creek Fisheries, North Pacific Seafoods, Ocean Beauty, Pacific Seafood, Pavlov Fisheries, Peter Pan Seafoods, Snug Harbor Seafoods, Taku Fisheries, Triad Fisheries, Trident Seafoods, and Yukon Gold Fisheries, “and potentially other eligible fishery participants who would seek MSC certification,” according to a statement from Trident, the unofficial spokesman for the group.
The meeting is the latest in a string of events starting with the processors applying to rejoin the certificate in April, only to be snubbed in a seven-page letter from ASPA. Since then, the processors have appealed to the MSC, which offered to arrange for mediation.
The processors maintain that they have met the MSC’s requirements for readmission, and are willing to pay any costs associated with readmission. ASPA has countered by accusing the processors of only coming back because they fear a bumper-crop of salmon predicted for this year will leave them with excess product they won’t be able to sell without the MSC eco-label.
Neither the MSC nor Trident commented further, saying the proceedings will be confidential.
