WWF and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) have announced the fourteen Mediterranean fisheries selected to undergo the MSC pre-assessment process as part of Project Medfish, an initiative to encourage more sustainable fishing in the region.
As part of the project, sustainability of seven French and seven Spanish fisheries will now be evaluated by independent certifiers and local experts.
Camiel Derichs, director for the MSC in Europe, said: “Analysis to date shows a lack of data, raising concerns about the long term sustainability of Mediterranean fishing.”
“These pre-assessments to the MSC Standard will be an important step towards helping fisheries understand what is required to safeguard Mediterranean seafood supplies for future generations.”
The initial assessment will evaluate the sustainability of the 14 fisheries, using the MSC Fisheries Standard as a benchmarking tool. Using these scores, action plans for improving the sustainability of the fishery will be developed by the fisheries as needed.
The fisheries selected for MSC pre-assessment were chosen to be broadly representative of fishing activities in the Mediterranean and include a range of commercially important species, including red mullet and octopus, hake or sardine. They encompass a diversity of fishing techniques.
Results of the pre-assessments will be available early in 2017 and will inform sustainability action plans to be developed by WWF in collaboration with the fisheries and fishers. Some of these fisheries may have the opportunity to enter full assessment to the MSC Fisheries Standard.
The MSC and WWF are inviting anyone with an interest in fisheries management in the Mediterranean to get involved in the project. More information from project-medfish.com or email medfish@msc.org
Fisheries to be assessed under Project Medfish:
Spain
Palamós red shrimp trawl fishery
Balearic Islands beach seine sandeel fishery
Motril and other ports striped soldier shrimp trap fishery
Corsica longline denti fishery
Villajoyosa and Santa Pola red mullet trawl fishery
Caleta de Vélez and other ports purse seine anchovy fishery
Mar Menor camarote prawn trap fishery
France
Gulf of Lion trap octopus fishery
Gulf of Lion purse seine sardine fishery
Gulf of Lion hake trawl fishery
Gulf of Lion bottom longline hake fishery
Gulf of Lion sea bass and sea bream with trammel net fishery
Gulf of Lion wedge clam hand dredge fishery
Languedoc-Roussillon mutable dog whelk trap fishery
