Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Reaches 7,000 Products Worldwide

The fisheries already certified catch close to five million metric tonnes of seafood annually - over seven per cent of the total wild capture for direct human consumption. Worldwide, more than 7,000 seafood products, which can be traced back to the certified sustainable fisheries, bear the blue MSC ecolabel.

24 Nov 2010 --- Sainsbury's helped the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to tip the scales on sustainable seafood this week as its peeled, frozen prawns were announced as the 7000th MSC ecolabelled product worldwide. Growth in MSC ecolabelled products has rocketed over the past four years doubling, on average, every 12-15 months.

Ally Dingwall, Sainsbury's Aquaculture & Fisheries Manager, said: "Sainsbury's is the largest retailer of MSC certified fish in the UK with over 75 lines and we have done more than any other retailer to source our fish in a sustainable and responsible way. We would like to congratulate the MSC on reaching 7,000 lines and would encourage other retailers to follow Sainsbury's lead in sourcing MSC certified fish."

"Sainsbury's have led the UK field with over one in ten of their seafood products now bearing the MSC ecolabel and I am particularly pleased that our 7,000 product is Sainsbury's own-brand," said MSC UK Manager, Toby Middleton. "Consumer Interest in MSC certified fish has rocketed over the past two years with recent figures showing a 60% increase in recognition of the MSC ecolabel in the UK. Nearly one in five people now recognise the MSC ecolabel. Much of that increase in recognition is the result of joint marketing work with leading retailers like Sainsbury's."

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organisation set up to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. The MSC runs the only certification and ecolabelling programme for wild-capture fisheries consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation guidelines for fisheries certification.  The FAO ‘Guidelines for the Eco-labelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries' require that credible fishery certification and eco-labelling schemes include:

•  Objective, third-party fishery assessment utilising scientific evidence;
•  Transparent processes with built-in stakeholder consultation and objection procedures;
•  Standards based on the sustainability of target species, ecosystems and management practices.

The MSC has offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Edinburgh, Berlin, Cape Town and Paris.

In total, over 230 fisheries are engaged in the MSC programme with 98 certified and over 130 under full assessment.  Another 40 to 50 fisheries are in confidential pre-assessment.  Together, fisheries already certified or in full assessment record annual catches of close to seven million metric tonnes of seafood, representing over 12 per cent of global capture production for direct human consumption. The fisheries already certified catch close to five million metric tonnes of seafood annually - over seven per cent of the total wild capture for direct human consumption. Worldwide, more than 7,000 seafood products, which can be traced back to the certified sustainable fisheries, bear the blue MSC ecolabel.