The Fiskbranschens Sweden Eastern Baltic cod fishery, a fishery on the verge of collapse a just few years ago, has earned Marine Stewardship Council sustainability certification.
The Eastern Baltic cod stock was considered close to collapse just a few years ago, but due to good management and excellent recruitment Fiskbranschens Riksforbund (FR) entered the fishery into full assessment in 2010.
The fishery consists of 55 trawlers, five to six longliners and three fish-trap vessels. It yielded 8,901 metric tons of fish in 2009. The cod is mainly landed in the Swedish ports of Karlskrona and Simrishamn and sold to the fresh market for processing and export.
“I am extremely pleased that Swedish consumers are now able to buy Swedish MSC certified cod from the eastern Baltic Sea. It is equally important to us to have reclaimed Swedish consumer confidence, as it is to have access to overseas markets through being able to export Baltic cod carrying the internationally known MSC ecolabel,” said Yngve Bjorkman, FR chairman. “There are plenty of fish in the sea, and I trust that more Swedish fishermen will join this path of sustainability.”
This is the third fishery in the past few days to attain MSC certification. The Anglo-French Normandy and Jersey lobster fishery did so on Tuesday, and the Danish Fishermen’s Producers Organization’s North Sea otter trawl plaice fishery did so on Friday.
