Maresco A/S, a company specialising in shellfish, has entered the Faroe Islands North East Arctic cold water prawn fishery into assessment for MSC certification.
The Faroese cold water prawn fishery is currently represented by three vessels: Havborg FD 1160, Sermilik II VN 668 and the Arctic Viking VN 123. In 2011, the total catch of the fishery was 4,500 metric tonnes.
The fishery takes place all year round in the Barents Sea (ICES I and II, FAO 27) using small-mesh trawl gear. Most of the fishing takes place at a depth between 250 and 400 metres and the deepest fishing ground is around 800 metres. The main product of the fishery is raw prawns for the peeling industry, cooked shell-on for Europe and China and raw shell-on shrimps for sushi, which has its main markets in Japan and Europe.
The Barents Sea cold water prawn stock is shared with the Russian and Icelandic fleets, and the Norwegian fleet, which gained MSC certification earlier this year in March.
Maresco's managing director Eydun Durhuus says: "This is yet another step forward for the Faroese fishing fleet in order to comply with customers' demand. In this specific case it is the Faroese prawn fleet that is next in line to work towards MSC certification. For many years, our fleet has been working closely with gear manufacturers in order to develop new selective fishing gear in order to maintain sustainable prawn stocks. MSC certification is a natural part of our effort to remain responsible and sustainable to the benefit of our valuable customers worldwide."
