The Icelandic seafood company, Saemark, has decided not to wait for the government’s plan to create its won eco-label and entered its fisheries into MSC assessment. The Group uses five different types of fishing gear to catch 160,000 tonnes of cod and 82,000 tonnes of haddock annually.
Saemark entered MSC certification process in April handling fish from 23 vessels that encompass 6,200 tonnes of Atlantic cod and 3,300 tonnes of haddock, harvested by longline, handline and Danish seine. Wolffish is also part of that assessment. Cod is traditionally the most important species for the Icelandic industry, 16 percent of it exported to the UK and another 12 percent to Spain.
The Icelandic government and the nation’s fishing sector have historically been sceptical to the MSC certification scheme, and last year unveiled joint plans to build its own certification program, which has yet to be finalized. The head of the Icelandic delegation made it clear that his country will never allow access to its waters for other nations’ fishermen, something few observers believe the Union will accept.
A complicating factor in the early talks has been the growing conflict this autumn over mackerel TACs between the EU, on one side, and Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Traditionally, Iceland did not land much mackerel but both Iceland and the Faroe Islands raised their TACs this year, arguing that stocks have moved further north into their waters because of rising water temperatures.
