Planned changes to the MSC certification of North East Arctic haddock caught under the oversight of Norwegian industry body Norges Fiskarlag, came into effect on 26th of April, while its North East Arctic cod certification has been temporarily extended up to maximum six more months, the Marine Stewardship Council has confirmed.
Previous MSC certifications included the inshore and offshore stocks of North East Arctic cod and haddock, but Norges Fiskarlag decided to apply for reassessment to the MSC Fisheries Standard for its offshore fisheries only.
From 26th April, the offshore haddock catch remains MSC certified while the inshore element is no longer part of the certificate.
Both inshore and offshore cod now have a certificate extension of up to six months, due to an objection raised by WWF to the recertification off offshore cod.
During the final stage of assessment to the MSC Fishery Standard, stakeholders can raise an objection to the independent assessor’s Final Report which recommends if a fishery should or should not be MSC certified. The Independent Adjudicator (IA) has approved to proceed on the first ground of the objection relating to disagreement on classification of golden redfish as non-ETP species.
Currently, the MSC certifications are for cod outside and inside 12 nautical miles, with the current MSC certificate is extended until further notice by maximum six months or until such time that the objection process has come to a close, for haddock outside 12 nautical miles and the MSC certificate continues with a new five-year MSC certification commencing 26th April.
The fishery for haddock inside 12 nautical miles is no longer MSC certified after 26 April 2021.
