The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) will continue to receive funding from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, which announced it would be shelling out an additional EUR 2.5 million (USD 2.7 million) grant to the certification body over the next five years.
As the largest charity lottery in the Netherlands, the Dutch Postcode Lottery provides support for more than 90 organizations operating in fields like nature and the environment, development cooperation, human rights and social cohesion.
“The MSC is overwhelmed at the generosity of this renewal grant from the Dutch Postcode Lottery. This funding will enable the MSC to accelerate critical work to secure healthy and productive oceans for the future,” said MSC’s CEO Rupert Howes, in a prepared statement.
“The Dutch Postcode Lottery's continued support reaffirms the importance of the MSC's work with leaders in the seafood industry and conservation community to tackle overfishing and to enable consumers to have access to sustainable seafood choices. Over the coming years these funds will underpin vital work to increase access to the MSC program, particularly for fisheries in the developing world, and to build consumer awareness and support for MSC certified seafood to ensure seafood supplies are safeguarded for generations to come. MSC would like to thank the players of the Dutch Postcode Lottery for enabling us to continue this work,” Howes added.
The MSC says it will allocate the funds toward its ongoing efforts to reward and incentivize sustainable fishing. The certification group has received an annual EUR 500,000 (USD 549,180) from the Lottery since 2011; after an evaluation of the partnership in October, the Lottery decided to continue its MSC support.
"Consumers can easily identify and buy sustainably caught fish, thanks to the distinctive blue MSC ecolabel,” said Margriet Schreuder, Head of Charities at the Dutch Postcode Lottery. “ The Postcode Lottery believes it is important that future generations can enjoy an abundance of fish and oceans full of life. We are pleased to be able to continue supporting the work of the MSC thanks to the contribution of the 2.5 million people playing the lottery."
As of now, MSC has certified more than 250 fisheries in 36 countries – seafood certified by MSC accounts for almost 10 percent of total global wild-caught seafood.
