The press report confirms that the Faroe Island North East Arctic cod and haddock fisheries have entered full assessment for MSC certification. As per the information the fishery include one single vessel, the MV Gadus, catching cod and haddock year-round in the Barents Sea using demersal trawl.
The MV Gadus is one of only three vessels fishing on the Faroese quota of north east arctic cod and haddock, and the 70 fishermen onboard work in shifts to catch 3,748t of cod and haddock every year. The fish is frozen at sea and landed in Faroese ports before it is exported to the EU.
The General Manager of the fishery Jógvan Hansen said that the growing demand for fish from sustainable sources is rising day by day and one way to prove that their fish is sustainable is to get the fisheries MSC certified. Camiel Derichs, Deputy Director Europe said that over the last year they have seen a great uptake of the MSC program among fisheries for cod and haddock in the Barents Sea. Stocks of cod and haddock are very large at the moment.
He added that the successful entry to the assessment is just because the responsible management by the Norwegian Russian Fisheries Committee, who managed to keep fishing pressure in balance with the production capacity of the stocks. The Faroese fisheries for cod and haddock in the Barents Sea take a portion of the TAC and thus benefit from the good management and the large stock levels.
