The Gulf of Maine lobster fishery’s Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification is being suspended amid concerns of endangered North Atlantic right whales becoming entangled in fishing gear.
MRAG Americas, a third-party assessor responsible for monitoring fisheries’ conformance with the MSC Fishery Standard confirmed the suspension will be effective 15 December 2022, at which point Gulf of Maine lobster will not be eligible to be sold as MSC-certified sustainable or carry the eco-label on products.
The Gulf of Maine lobster fishery was first certified in December 2016.
Explaining the move, MRAG Americas stated that over the last decade, climate-driven shifts in habitats and food sources have impacted right whale migration patterns, contributing to more interactions between right whales, fishing gear and shipping vessels.
This serious and tragic situation is of grave concern to all those involved in the fishing industry, and to the MSC, MRAG Americas said.
US federal law, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), provide for the conservation of marine mammals, including right whales. Implementation falls under the jurisdiction of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, part of the Department of Commerce.
In July 2022, a federal court ruling found that regulations intended to reduce the risk of the Maine lobster fishery to right whales do not meet the legal requirements of the MMPA and ESA for fixed-gear fisheries.
Then in September this year, based on the new information from this court decision, MRAG Americas initiated an expedited audit of the Maine lobster fishery certification to determine if the fishery still meets the requirements of the standard. The audit concluded with the finding that as a result of the court ruling, the fishery is no longer in compliance with all relevant laws, does not meet the MSC Fisheries Standard, and therefore the certification of the Maine lobster fishery is suspended.
In the most recent assessment by the assessor, no evidence was found that the Maine lobster fishery is responsible for entanglements or interactions with right whales.
The Maine lobster fishery was previously suspended in August 2020 for similar reasons, with the suspension lifted in September 2021 when new rules were put in place to improve management of right whales, however these regulatory measures were subject to legal challenge.
MSC certificates are valid for five years, after which the fishery must be reassessed for recertification. The current certification for the Gulf of Maine lobster fishery ends in January 2023.
The fishery initiated the reassessment process in November 2021. According to MSC, during the consultation process, several organisations filed objections to the proposed recertification in June 2022 and the process was put on pause when the expedited audit was initiated in September 2022. Consideration of the objections to the recertification, subject to review by an independent adjudicator, will now resume while the fishery certificate is suspended.
