The Russian Red King Crab fishery in the Barents Sea has become the first of its kind globally to achieve MSC certification.
The fishery client, Association of Crab Catchers of the North, was established in 1992. The certified fishery holds the entire quota for commercial red king crab in Russia’s exclusive economic zone and is comprised of ten crab vessels using traps. Parts of the traps are manufactured of biodegradable material.
“Congratulations to the fishery for becoming the first red king crab fishery in the world to be MSC certified. To become certified it was crucial that the fishery demonstrate a high level of management and, in particular, explicit harvest control rules,” said Camiel Derichs, MSC regional director Europe.
“This will hopefully encourage other king crab fisheries to enter assessment. Consumers around the world can now trust that red king crab sold with the MSC label is independently certified as sustainable. We look forward to seeing the first MSC labelled red king crab products from this fishery on the shelves soon,” she added.
Fished since 2004
The certification was awarded by independent certifier Acoura Marine following a detailed assessment.
Commercially fished in Russia since 2004, the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) is also known as the Kamchatka crab or Alaskan king crab and is native to the Okhotsk and Japan seas, the Bering Sea and the northern Pacific Ocean. Introduced to the Barents Sea by Soviet fishery scientists between 1961 and 1969, the species is now common in the southern Barents Sea shelf from northern Norway in the west to Kolguev Island in the east.
Scientists from the Polar Institute of Fishery and Oceanography (PINRO) make annual stock assessments using several independent methods and the total allowable catch is set on the basis of harvest control rules. In Russia, crab fishing is currently banned. The total red king crab catch by the Russian Red King Crab fishery in 2015 was 6381t.
