The Western Australian Government has partnered with the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC) to announce a $14.5m fund for Western Australian fisheries to gain MSC certification.
The fund will be rolled out over the next four years and will be split into $8m for ongoing research and management and $6.5m for assessment to gain MSC certification.
WAFIC chairman, Brad Adams, said, "The Western Australian fishing industry recognises the need for independent sustainability validation of our fisheries management regimes to meet increasing demands from the Western Australian community and seafood consumers.
"The Marine Stewardship Council certification standard is recognised as providing the world’s highest measure of fisheries environmental performance and that is why WAFIC fully supports the Minister’s choice of the MSC as the means to provide credible assurance to the community."
Once certified, Western Australian fisheries' products will be eligible to carry the MSC’s blue ecolabel which provides assurance to seafood buyers and consumers worldwide that the seafood is fully traceable to a sustainable fishery that has been awarded MSC certification.
