The World Wildlife Fund has submitted a formal objection to the proposed Marine Stewardship Council certification of the Russian pollock fishery.
The move follows the At-Sea Processors Association (APA), which filled a formal object with the MSC earlier this week.
In the note of objection, WWF expressed concern about the assessment process of the fishery in regards to the certification body’s non-compliance with the MSC certification requirements.
“The assessment of the information on environmental impacts and the defining conditions and associated milestones must be resolved before certification,” said WWF.
WWF also criticized the certifier for not conducting a sufficiently rigorous analysis to support the scoring of several performance indicators, including those dealing with information concerning fishing mortality, protect species and habitat impacts.
Market-based incentives such as MSC certification play a crucial role in moving fisheries toward sustainability and encourage demand for responsible seafood products on the market. However they must be applied rigorously and in this case WWF felt that the application of the MSC standard had not been carried out robustly.
WWF’s mission is to support and strengthen MSC standards and to work towards an improvement of the process of certification.
In five days WWF’s formal objection will be published on the MSC’s website. In the meantime, WWF continues to engage with key stakeholders and the client in the certification process of this fishery, discussing recommendations for changes to the conditions, action plan and milestones to help the fishery achieve robust and measurable improvements necessary for meaningful sustainability.
