Eight Danish vessels have now joined the certificate of the Ekofish Group and thus bringing the North Sea plaice catch eligible to bear the MSC ecolabel for sustainable fisheries doubled. The Dutch Ekofish Group North Sea plaice twinrig fishery was certified by Moody Marine Ltd. in June 2009. Its UK-registered vessels target plaice for the northern European market.
The method this fishery uses is large meshes of 120-140mm. As a result, undesired by-catch of small fish (discards) is very limited. As part of the ongoing certification of the fishery, Ekofish Group has voluntarily agreed with WWF and North Sea Foundation to close selected areas and to participate in scientific research programmes to map the impacts of the gear on the seabed.
Louwe de Boer, General Manager of Ekofish Group said that having MSC certification is an edge in the market. he added that the demand for high quality, sustainable plaice from the North Sea is very high in the market and it is pleasure having other plaice fishermen recognised this.
Jens Bollerup, representing the eight Danish vessels coments that this is a true international cooperation: five UK-registered vessels owned by Dutch fishermen plus eight Danish vessels landing MSC certified sustainable plaice at certified Dutch and Danish auctions for European consumers. He told that joining Ekofish Group’s certificate will help ensuring the economic stability of the North Sea plaice fishery by meeting the growing market demand for sustainable seafood.
