As per the information an Independent Adjudicator has asked third-party certifier Moody Marine Ltd to consider the information of an additional report in its scoring of five of the 31 performance indicators used to assess the Aker BioMarine Antarctic krill fishery. After studying a thirteen-month scientific assessment of the fishery by Moody Marine, and a four month review of an objection to their finding that the fishery meets the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard.
The Independent Adjudicator, Mr Eldon V.C. Greenberg, said that after studying the whole matter it is found that it was a ”serious procedural error” for the certifier not to have taken into account a new risk assessment prepared by Watters, et al (2009)[3], published near the end of the assessment process. The objection included challenges to 12 of the 31 performance indicators used to score the fishery. Greenberg has upheld Moody Marine’s decision in respect of 7 of the 12 indicators challenged, finding that the certifier “…did not make a mistake, did not fail to consider material information, and did not act arbitrarily or unreasonably.”
In accordance with the MSC Objections Procedure, this matter is now remanded to the certifier (Moody Marine Ltd) to consider Watters (2009) and its relationship to the scoring of the five performance indicators. Moody Marine has ten day to issue a response in relation to the scoring and give reasons for its decision. The release states that the objection in the Aker BioMarine krill fishery assessment was filed on December 8th 2009 by the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) – a global coalition of NGOs with an interest in the preservation of Antarctica -, during the formal objections period of the fishery assessment.
