The World Wildlife Fund expressed concern on Friday over the intentions of retailers in Germany, the United States and Canada to drop all Atlantic cod products because of sustainability questions.
While the environmental group admits some Atlantic cod fisheries have room for improvement, the group is urging retailers to not reject cod purchases from the Barents Sea, a fishery that is described by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) as harvested sustainably, and one that has obtained Marine Stewardship Council certification for sound management. WWF claims that dropping Barents Sea contradicts retails' commitments to sell sustainable seafood.
"Science confirms that Barents Sea cod is being harvested sustainably, therefore it's excessively heavy-handed and unnecessary to de-list this fishery from supermarket shelves," said Alfred Schumm, leader of WWF's Smart Fishing Initiative. "The MSC certified Barents Sea cod is undoubtedly one of the best options at the fish counter."
Barents Sea cod is one of the few remaining cod stocks in good condition, WWF says. While other cod populations are depleted due to overexploitation and lack of effective management systems, Barents Sea cod has been managed using best practices such as precautionary reference points, harvest control rules and area restrictions.
WWF is urging seafood suppliers to assess their supply chains on a stock-by-stock and fishery-by-fishery basis, and reward those fisheries that have invested in improvements by continuing to source from them.
"The Barents Sea cod fishery is a success story that should be celebrated and used as a leading example for fisheries managers across the world. In order to recover all Atlantic cod populations we have to see similar management measures being implemented elsewhere," said CEO of WWF-Norway Rasmus Hansson.
