Three units of B.C. sockeye salmon fishery, Skeena, the Nass and Barkley Sound, have earned the earned Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification having been independently assessed by an accredited certifier and found to meet the MSC standard for sustainably managed fisheries.
MSC has separate evaluate these fisheries in units certification which are defined by species, geography, fishing gear, or vessel. In this case, the broader B.C. sockeye salmon fishery was divided into four separate units by geography when it entered MSC assessment. The fourth unit, the Fraser River, is still in process and is being examined by an Independent Adjudicator (IA) following an objection raised by stakeholders.
The press release said that the gear tupes also gets certification which include seine, gillnet and troll for marine fisheries, and several gear types for freshwater fisheries. The fisheries operate within British Columbia and Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone waters.
The fisheries are closely monitored and management actions can include closure of commercial fishing if spawning escapement goals are not attained. The final certification report for these three units includes 26 conditions placed on the three fisheries and the management plans put in place to meet the conditions will help further improve sustainability practices.
Commercial sockeye salmon fisheries in British Columbia are managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). As for market of these fishery is concern they are primarily exported as frozen or canned products, and approximately 10 percent is sold fresh. Japan is the largest consumer of frozen B.C. sockeye, importing more than 90 percent of the frozen product. The UK is the largest consumer of canned sockeye importing more than 80 percent of that product type.
