he Ministry of Fisheries is now calling for applications for grants from the 2010/11 Environmental Certification Funding Round. The Environmental Certification Fund provides grants to assist the seafood industry with the costs of seeking an independent environmental certification or assessment of their fisheries or aquaculture activities. MFish will fund up to 75% of the assessment fee.
“There is an overwhelming demand for transparency and certification of fisheries these days” says MFish fund manager, Diana Young. “The costs of certification can be prohibitive, so the Environmental Certification Fund is a great resource for companies to tap into”.
In previous years, MFish has assisted the Albacore Tuna, Southern Scallops, Ling, Hake and Southern Blue Whiting fisheries with some of their assessment and certification costs and are looking forward to assisting others in the NZ seafood industry to do the same.
This financial year, MFish has $200,000 available and possibly more for the contestable fund. “I am keen to hear from industry representatives who are thinking about getting their fisheries or aquaculture activities independently certified or assessed, either this year or in future” says Diana. This is the last year funding has been allocated for this project, and MFish will need to get approval to continue running the fund into the future – and any evidence of growing demand will be a factor in that.
