French toothfish fisheries seek MSC certification

 Seven French longliners from the Reunion Freezer Longliner Shipowners Association (SARPC) on Thursday entered full assessment for Marine Stewardship Council certification, the London nonprofit announced.

The French Chilean sea bass fishermen's group was formed by six fishing companies that have authorization and licenses to capture toothfish in the French Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the Kerguelen plateau and the area around the Crozet Islands, a small archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. The region is one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Islands.

The fishing companies operate seven longline vessels from the French Réunion Island. This is the third French fishery to enter the MSC program.

"We've decided to seek MSC certification in the hope of earning recognition for our long-standing commitments to sustainable fishing," said Yannick Lauri, president of the SARPC. "We already adhere to very strict controls and we take part in a number of scientific and explorative surveys. We hope that the MSC ecolabel, the most widely recognized ecolabel for sustainable fishing, will help us demonstrate our sustainable practices."

The fishery will be assessed against the three core principles of MSC's standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries: the sustainability of the fish stock, its impact on the environment and the management systems in place. The assessment will be carried out by an independent certifier, MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd.

"This fishery represents a significant part of the total toothfish catches by volume. I hope this is the start of a successful assessment and that it will provide the French toothfish fishery with an opportunity to demonstrate their sustainable fishing practices to the world through MSC certification," said Martin Purves, MSC Southern Africa Program Manager.

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