The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has awarded six organisations funding to deliver projects that will help small scale and developing world fisheries to achieve MSC certification.
Blue Ventures, Anchud Mudcrab Productivity Committee, WWF Japan, Masyarakat Dan Perikanan Indonesia Foundation, WWF Guianas, and WWF Coral Triangle Program will receive a total investment of £212,500.
David Agnew, the MSC’s science and standards director said: "We had some excellent proposals for funding. The winning projects particularly fit in with the objective of the fund– to deliver critical scientific research that addresses information, technology and management gaps and barriers that fisheries encounter in achieving the MSC Standard.”
The projects will deliver critical scientific research which will address information, technology and management gaps to build a capacity of personal and assist small scale, developing fisheries.
For many small scale and developing world fisheries, achieving the high standard required for MSC certification can be a significant challenge. This was recognised two years ago, in March 2014, when the MSC Board proposed the need for an official fund.
The Global Fisheries Sustainability Fund (GFSF) was launched in July 2015 with an initial £400,000, split over two years.
Geoffrey Muldoon, senior manager with WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme, said: “WWF in the Coral Triangle is committed to working with the MSC to make the program more accessible to fisheries in the developing world.”
He concluded: “With this funding from the MSC, we are excited to be able to build in-country expertise to deliver cost-effective and robustly designed fishery improvement projects to achieve that goal.”
