At a recent meeting with stakeholders from the fishing industry and NGOs, India’s Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) identified 10 fisheries for which it will pursue Marine Stewardship Council certification.
At the meeting in Kochi on 5 April, stakeholders agreed that MSC certification would help India’s fisheries both in combatting overexploitation and unregulated fishing in the country’s waters, as well as improve its marketing position.
The 10 fisheries chosen for MSC certification are:
- Blue swimming crab caught in gillnet and flower shrimp caught by trawl in Mandapam, Tamil Nadu
- Shrimp, red ring shrimp, squid and cuttlefish caught by trawl in Kollam, Kerala
- Lobster caught by trap in Nagercoil and Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
- Skipjack tuna caught by hook and line in Lakshadweep
- Japanese threadfin bream caught by trawl from India’s southwest coast
The meeting also saw the launch of a sustainable seafood network of 12 members to accelerate the measures for maintaining sustainable practices in seafood industry. The members are CMFRI, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), India’s seafood industry, retailers, trawlers, traditional fishermen and non-governmental organizations.
MSC Head of the Developing World Programs Yemi Oloruntuyi, who is based in London, United Kingdom, was the chief guest at the meeting, which was chaired by CMFRI Director A Gopalakrishnan. MSC India Consultant Ranjit Suseelan, World Wildlife Fund’s Ema Fatima, CMFRI principal scientist Sunil Mohammed and MPEDA Joint Director Ram Mohan all attended the meeting, which was jointly organized by the CMFRI, MSC, and WWF-India.
Photo courtesy of Daksh-India
