Today the Ocean Choice International Grand Bank Yellowtail Flounder trawl fishery has entered the full assessment process to be evaluated against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries.
If the fishery passes the assessment, which is estimated to take 12 to 14 months, it will earn MSC certification, and seafood products from that fishery will be eligible to bear the MSC eco-label. In accordance with the MSC standard, the assessment will evaluate the status of the Grand Bank yellowtail flounder stock, the impacts that the fishery has on the marine ecosystem and the management system overseeing the fishery. Moody Marine Ltd. has been selected by the fishery as the third-party certifier to conduct the assessment.
The client for this assessment is Ocean Choice International L.P (OCI). The fishery, which captures yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea) by demersal trawl, is managed by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, with stock assessment and broad management objectives established by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). This is the first stock of fish under NAFO’s purview to enter assessment for MSC certification.
“OCI is committed to conducting our harvesting operations in an environmentally sustainable manner,” said Blaine Sullivan, chief operating officer for OCI. “We are pleased to be entering MSC’s full assessment process for our yellowtail flounder fishery, and we look forward to increasing the range of OCI products offered in the international marketplace under the MSC eco-label. North American consumers have enjoyed this North Atlantic Canadian flounder product for many years, and we are currently introducing this sweet, delicate white fish to consumers in Europe and Asia. OCI is committed to the highest quality standards within all our fisheries.”
OCI’s Canadian northern prawn fishing vessels were awarded MSC certification in August 2008, and their Eastern Canada offshore sea scallop fishery is also currently under assessment.
“MSC welcomes the first yellowtail flounder fishery in the world to enter assessment for MSC certification and measure itself against MSC’s internationally accepted standard for sustainability,” said Brad Ack, director for the MSC Americas region. “Canadian fisheries continue to show strong leadership in sustainability, and we look forward to following this fishery’s progress through its assessment.”
OCI is allocated 91.4 percent of Canada’s total annual quota for this species; the remaining 8.6 percent quota is allocated to five different companies. Only OCI’s landings are included in this assessment. In the 2008 season, the total annual catch of Grand Bank yellowtail flounder was 10,303 tons.
Currently, most product from the OCI Grand Bank yellowtail flounder fishery is sold within North America, with more than half going to the foodservice sector; approximately 30 percent of those products are sold in fresh form and 70 percent in frozen form. Less than 10 percent of the landed quota is currently sold in Asia.
