Snow crab and king crab are the latest Alaska fisheries to be awarded Responsible Fisheries Management Certification.
The independent, third-party assessment was conducted by Global Trust Certification Ltd. and is based on the Food and Agriculture Organization Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The assessment, requested by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, took 12 months to conduct.
The units of certification are the Bristol Bay red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) fishery, St. Matthew blue king crab (Paralithodes platypus) fishery and the Eastern Bering Sea snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio); all three are fished by pot gear. The fisheries are subjected to federal and state joint management regime.
“We are pleased that we can offer our industry and our customers a credible certification of Alaska’s crab fisheries,” said Ray Riutta, executive director of ASMI. “This certification is a first as it is the only fishery management certification in the crab sector with formal and official IS0 65 accreditation. The third-party certification will effectively communicate to all interested parties that the Alaska crab fishery is responsibly managed for sustainable use.”
Alaska’s salmon fishery was the first to be certified under the FAO-based certification program in March 2011, followed by the halibut fishery last May, the sablefish fishery last September and the pollock fishery last December.
