The certification body, Food Certification International (FCI), has announced that the Barents Sea cod and Barents Sea haddock fisheries have completed all necessary requirements for full assessment. Initially FCI seeks to open a dialogue with all organisations or individuals with a direct interest in the fishery. FCI said that the public opinion is very much needed and anyone wishing to provide comments or information to the assessment process (relevant to the status of the stock, ecosystem interactions or fishery management practices) is invited to contact them.
The location of the fishery is Barents Sea – ICES Areas I and II. Within Norwegian and Russian EEZ and International Waters. The fishing method used is Demersal trawl. It is said that the fishery management is undertaken by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries and the Russian Federal Agency on Fisheries via the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission, based on the advice of ICES. Norwegian Coastguard carried out the enforcement and inspection at sea undertaken.
The potential commercial market for most fish caught are trans-shipped at sea before being landed in Holland for onward shipping with the rest being directly landed to designated plants and storage facilities mainly in Norway, UK and Russia. FCI pointed out that the assessment will commence in December 2008 and is expected to take 13 months. The target eligibility date for this fishery is the 1st of May 2009.
