The letter from Alaska Gov. Bill Walker to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) regarding an ongoing dispute over an MSC certificate in that state for salmon has not changed the MSC’s stance on the issue.
The MSC, in a statement responding to the letter, reiterated its stance as a mediator in the dispute between the Alaska Salmon Processors Association (ASPA) and eight companies – Trident Seafood, Peter Pan Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Kwik’pak Fisheries, North Pacific Seafoods, Alaska General Seafoods and Leader Creek Fisheries – which are applying to rejoin the salmon MSC certificate for Alaska.
“We are actively encouraging ASPA and the applicant companies to reach agreement on certificate sharing and have offered to organize and pay for the facilitation of these negotiations,” the MSC said in its statement.
The companies, led by Trident Seafood, withdrew from the MSC certification program in 2012 in a joint statement against the NGO, but in April applied for readmission after learning of a predicted bumper-crop of salmon coming this year, and demands from European customers for MSC eco-labeling.
But ASPA, the current certificate holder, has declined to allow the companies back in, prompting them, and now Gov. Walker, to appeal to the MSC itself for help.
“The final decision on how the certificate is shared is a commercial one which needs to be negotiated between the certificate holder and the applicant organizations,” the MSC said in its response to Walker.
The MSC, in the statement, acknowledged the value of Alaska seafood and its industry’s commitment to sustainable seafood production.
