New Zealand-based rock lobster fishing organization CRAMAC 5 has successfully renewed its certification with Friend of the Sea (FOS).
The renewal allows CRAMAC 5, officially referred to as the CRA 5 Rock Lobster Industry Association Incorporated, to continue to display the FOS eco-label on its eligible products. CRAMAC 5 is part of the broader New Zealand Rock Lobster Industry Council (NZRLIC), a commercial stakeholder organization that serves to represent the rock lobster industry in New Zealand. There are nine CRAMAC areas in total, FOS confirmed, each dealing with “local and national aspects of the rock lobster industry and general issues.”
According to Paolo Bray, Director of Friend of the Sea, achieving certification for rock lobster fishing can be especially rigorous.
“Sustainability in rock lobster fishing is an especially challenging process,” said Bray. “There are the usual requirements, but in the case of rock lobsters, a certified organization has to adhere to strict fishing quotas.”
“Management of lobster fishing quotas is essential to sustainability. Rock lobsters are relatively rare and can easily be fished out of existence,” added FOS in its 18 June press release announcing CRAMAC 5’s certification renewal.
CRAMAC 5 has been certified by FOS continuously since 2013. The organization’s quota fishery area extends from the western side of the Marlborough Sounds across to Cape Jackson and then southwards to Banks Peninsula.
