An Independent Adjudicator has asked third-party certifier Moody Marine Ltd to consider the information of an additional report in its scoring of 5 of the 31 performance indicators used to assess the Aker BioMarine Antarctic krill fishery.
The decision follows a 13-month scientific assessment of the fishery and a four month review of an objection to its finding that the fishery meets the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard.
The Independent Adjudicator, Eldon V C Greenberg, found that it was a “serious procedural error” for the certifier not to have taken into account a new risk assessment prepared by Watters, et al (2009), published near the end of the assessment process.
The objection included challenges to 12 of the 31 performance indicators used to score the fishery. Mr Greenberg has upheld Moody Marine’s decision in respect of 7 of the 12 indicators challenged, finding that the certifier “...did not make a mistake, did not fail to consider material information, and did not act arbitrarily or unreasonably.” In respect of the remaining five indicators challenged, the Independent Adjudicator now requires Moody Marine to review its scoring following consideration of the Watters (2009) research.
On the other grounds for objection, Mr Greenberg found that Moody Marine satisfied the MSC’s procedural requirements by explicitly addressing comments of peer reviewers and did review its report in light of stakeholder comments.
In accordance with the MSC Objections Procedure, this matter is now remanded to the certifier to consider Watters (2009) and its relationship to the scoring of the five performance indicators. Moody Marine has 10 days to issue a response in relation to the scoring and give reasons for its decision.
The objections process will be finalised once Mr Greenberg has considered the Moody Marine’s response. If he remains unsatisfied with the response, the objection could be upheld.
