Emma Desrochers is a freelance journalist based in Waialua, Hawaii, who writes about fisheries and sustainability. She graduated from Yale University in June 2021 with an undergraduate degree in environmental studies and mechanical engineering. She has contributed to the environmental conservation field through internships located in Ecuador, Thailand, and Hawaii.
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Two processing vessels, owned by Phoenix Processors Limited Partnership (PPLP), the M/V Excellence and the M/V Phoenix, have achieved the FISH Standard for Crew Certification.
The vessels operate as American flagged vessels in the Alaska pollock and Pacific whiting fisheries.
“FISH certification affirms our company’s long-standing dedication to safe operations and responsible treatment of our crew,” PPLP
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The Reponsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification reassessment process is underway for the Alaska pollock and cod fisheries.
The public comment period for the assessment opened 19 December, 2022, and runs to 19 January, 2023. The comment period will be followed with the certification determination by the third-party certification body, DNV, which will determine whether the fisheries can be recertified or not.
RFM is a
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The Fairness, Integrity, Safety, and Health (FISH) Standard for Crew, a third-party accreditation for labor practices on wild-capture fishing vessels, announced it has applied to the Consumer Goods Forum’s Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI).
The SSCI provides consumer guidance benchmarking of third-party audits, monitoring, and certification schemes. It covers sustainability requirements and relevant verification
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The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has released its first report on how it is contriuting to the responsible aquaculture portion of the United Nations Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 17 SDGs make up the overall sustainability goals adopted by 193 U.N. member-states in 2015. Within each overarching goal, there are specific targets to achieve the 17 SDGs by 2030. The new report found more than 80
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The Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Ocean Stewardship Fund is halfway to its goal of USD 10 million (EUR 9.4 million) in funding to support sustainable fishing globally.
The MSC launched the fund in 2018, with the funding going to small-scale fisheries that need assistance to overcome obstacles to becoming sustainable. The fund has awarded around USD 4.4 million (EUR 4.1 million) in grants, with USD 854,000 (EUR 804,000)
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London, U.K.-based nonprofit financial think tank Planet Tracker has launched a new database listing seafood supply chain companies. The database allows for comparison of listed companies' exposure to overfishing, illegal fishing, and sustainability risks.
Planet Tracker said its database provides better transparency to investors and lenders, allowing them to more accurately assess the risk and opportunity of an investment in a company
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A walleye and northern pike fishery in the Canadian province of Manitoba has achieved Marine Stewardship Council certification.
Cedar Lake is the province’s fourth-largest commercial fishery, and the certification was made possible through a multi-year collaboration between Cedar Lake Fisheries Inc., the Chemawawin Cree Nation, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), and the province of Manitoba. This collaboration and partnership aims to
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A ghost gear removal competition, hosted by the Azores tuna fishery, has resulted in a plastic-neutral status for the islands' pole-and-line fishery for the 2022 fishing season.
The competition picked up 735 kilograms of marine litter, with 620.65 kilograms of that total being fishing gear, according to the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF). Ghost gear is fishing gear that has been abandoned, lost, or discarded at sea that
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The 19th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on 25 November, 2022, ended with increased protections for 95 species of sharks and guitarfish.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), roughly one third of sharks, rays, and chimaeras (cartilaginous fish) are threatened with extinction. The number of species threatened is
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Ryan Orgera, a U.S.-based marine governance expert, has launched Accountability.Fish to spur operational change in regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs).
Orgera said the new movement aims to raise awareness of the politics behind RFMOs, which he said is leading to unsustainable management and poor accountability on decisions made to recover important fisheries. Another goal of the movement is to connect the fishing
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