Peterhead market received the first landings of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified North Sea haddock on Friday 29 October, as fishermen and members of the Scottish Fisheries Sustainable Accreditation Group (SFSAG) celebrated the sustainable status of this stock.
North Sea haddock is the first Scottish whitefish to secure the MSC eco-label, and is of significant value to the fleet – 26,000 tonnes worth £25 million (€28.7 million/$39.8 million) in 2009. It is also the first fishery of its kind to be certified in the North Sea.
Mike Park, chair of SFSAG said the Scottish industry has been involved in a number of initiatives to demonstrate its sustainability and the MSC status is “a significant milestone”, illustrating the progress that has been made in a relatively short period of time.
“Achieving MSC accreditation for North Sea haddock will enable the industry to prove its credentials to the supply chain, through a recognised and independently verified standard, and ensure that the top quality haddock landed by Scottish vessels is available to as many consumers as possible.”
Scottish first minister Alex Salmond said: “Congratulations to SFSAG for this landmark achievement. Scotland is leading the rest of Europe on fisheries conservation and achieving the MSC standard for Scottish haddock is further recognition of this. The award is excellent news for our fishing fleets and is testament to the hard work of the industry in recent years.
“North Sea haddock is Scotland’s most valuable whitefish stock and achieving sustainable stock status will ensure further opportunities for our fishermen in the future. This could open the door for lucrative deals with leading retailers which value MSC status.
“The Scottish government and industry have been working together to ensure that we are at the forefront of developing innovative ways to manage our fisheries. We have introduced the Conservation Credits Scheme in North Sea whitefish fisheries, which has been instrumental in the certification of haddock. And WWF ranked Scotland number 1 in Europe, together with Denmark, for conservation measures by North Sea whitefish fleets in 2009.”
Haddock currently ranks number four in volume and value in the UK marketplace and total retail sales increased year on year to 30 September 2010 by 5.4% in value and 14.7% in volume.
“There has been considerable interest from both retailers and the food service sector in MSC North Sea haddock. Certification will help to secure existing markets, create new opportunities, and reassure the consumer that North Sea Haddock is a good purchase choice,” stated Davie Anderson, chairman of the Scottish Association of Fish Producer Organisations and a member of SFSAG.
The Scottish whitefish fleet has moved to using larger mesh gear (120mm) when operating in demersal fisheries catching haddock, which means there is very little catch of small undersized fish. Many now voluntarily use nets with larger mesh of 130mm.
All vessels are now ‘effort’ managed - only permitted to be at sea and fishing for a set number of days per year. In 2010, whitefish vessels have this level set at just 140 days for the year.
