Posts Tagged ‘fisheries’
WWF: Don’t reject Barents Sea cod
The World Wildlife Fund expressed concern on Friday over the intentions of retailers in Germany, the United States and Canada to drop all Atlantic cod products because of sustainability questions.
While the environmental group admits some Atlantic cod fisheries have room for improvement, the group is urging retailers to not reject cod purchases from the Barents Sea, a fishery that is described by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) as harvested sustainably, and one that has obtained Marine Stewardship Council certification for sound management. WWF claims that dropping Barents Sea contradicts retails’ commitments to sell sustainable seafood.
“Science confirms that Barents Sea cod is being harvested sustainably, therefore it’s excessively heavy-handed and unnecessary to de-list this fishery from supermarket shelves,” said Alfred Schumm, leader of WWF’s Smart Fishing Initiative. “The MSC certified Barents Sea cod is undoubtedly one of the best options at the fish counter.”
China’s fisheries catching up fast to EU regulations – traceability
China appears to have made considerable progress in improving the traceability of its fish processing industry, but will need to adapt further if it is to meet the requirements of forthcoming European Union regulations, according to a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. From January 2010, all fish materials imported into the European Union (EU) will have to be accompanied by catch certificates. The certificates will then have to be validated by the flag State of the vessel that caught the fish. The new laws aim to combat Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. The ability of China, as the leading exporter of marine fish products and the world’s fastest growing major economy, to meet such requirements is regarded as vital in the process to curb IUU fishing worldwide, TRAFFIC said. Its study, Understanding China’s Fish Trade and Traceability, characterises China’s fish reprocessing industry and examines to what extent its existing traceability systems will be able to cope with the requirements of the forthcoming EU legislation.
EU fisheries code poses challenge to China
China, the world’s leading exporter of marine fish products, needs to adapt its fisheries if it is to meet new EU (European Union) regulations to combat illegal fishing. Under the legislation, which will take effect from January 2010, all fishy materials imported into the European Union will have to be accompanied by catch certificates validated by the nation under whose flag the fishing vessel sails, according to an AFP report from Beijing.
The move is aimed at combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network Traffic said in its report titled “Understanding China’s Fish Trade and Traceability.”
via fnbnews.com