New research undertaken as part of New Zealand’s first Sustainable Seafood Day shows New Zealanders rate ocean pollution such as plastics as the highest perceived threat to ocean health, followed by overfishing and illegal fishing.
Sustainable Seafood Day on 14 May brought together members of the seafood community including government, academia, industry and NGOs to celebrate sustainable fisheries, seafood and what more can be done to create a positive impact on the oceans.
The event marks the 20th anniversary since MSC was established and Anne Gabriel, MSC Oceania programme director, said: “Our objective is to create a positive and collaborative dialogue for our oceans moving forward, New Zealand is a global leader in fisheries management, and we want to incentivise further improvements and to facilitate everyone working together for the common goal of sustainable fisheries.”
Hoki stocks secure
The event included a keynote address from the Minister for Fisheries, Hon Stuart Nash, followed by a panel featuring Ms Gabriel; Sanford CEO, Volker Kuntzsch; and NIWA principal scientist, Dr Matt Dunn.
“Over half of New Zealand’s wild caught seafood is certified to the MSC Standard for Sustainable Fishing and 74% of deep water fisheries are certified, which shows leadership and commitment to safeguarding the oceans for future generations,” said Ms Gabriel.
New Zealand hoki was the first whitefish fishery in the world to meet the MSC standard for sustainable fishing in 2001. Since its certification, the New Zealand hoki fishery stocks have more than doubled in size and the fishery now supplies to markets domestically, as well as the UK, Europe, USA and Australia.
