U.S. West Coast groundfish certified

The fishery occurs in the waters off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. Fishing occurs year round, but is most active in the first six months, with fish landed to designated ports in each of the three states. About 100 vessels participate in the fishery in a given year and the average annual total catch for the five year period ending in 2013 was more than 41 million pounds.

The certification of this fishery includes the first MSC certified rockfish species: Chilipepper rockfish; Longspine Thornyheads; Shortspine thornyheads; Splitnose rockfish; Widow rockfish; and, Yellowtail rockfish. It also includes the first MSC certified skate species, Longnose Skates. The remaining of the 13 certified species include: Arrowtooth flounder, Dover sole; English sole; Ling cod; Petrale sole; and Sablefish.

Speaking on behalf of the client group that entered the fisheries into assessment, Brad Pettinger, director of the Oregon Trawl Commission, said: “MSC certification of this fishery is really a renewal of the social contract that we have with the public, providing assurance that we are fishing sustainably and in a manner that is consistent with the public’s high expectation.”

The fishery is managed under a catch share program that utilises Individual Fishing Quotas (IFQ) and 100% observer coverage to better manage the multi-species fishery. Under the catch share program, all vessels fishing are required to have a federal license and are 100% accountable for their catch, which ensures that fish stocks are not overfished.

During the assessment, the team noted that there is an ongoing and systematic approach to reducing bycatch, and a September 2013 West Coast groundfish IFQ progress report from 2012 by NOAA confirmed that there has been a substantial reduction in bycatch as a result of the implementation of catch shares.