Press Release
August 18, 2021
On August 9th, 2021, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) recertified the North Pacific fixed gear sablefish fishery as sustainable according to the MSC’s rigorous guidelines, and extended that certification to the Northern Southeast Inside’s sablefish fishery for the first time.
"This recertification rightly acknowledges the hard work of Alaska fixed gear fishermen and fishery managers to maintain healthy fisheries in balance with marine ecosystems," said Bob Alverson, Director of Fishing Vessel Owners Association (FVOA). The client for MSC halibut and sablefish is “Eat on the Wild Side” a non-profit of the FVOA and Deep Sea Fishermen’s Union (DSFU). “MSC certification requires continued improvement in best fishing and management practices and our sablefish fisheries met all identified criteria."
The Marine Stewardship Council uses its ecolabel and fishery certification program to contribute to the health of the world's oceans by recognizing and rewarding sustainable fishing practices, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood, and working to transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis. The MSC first certified the North Pacific fixed gear sablefish fisheries on April 18, 2006.
"The addition of the NSEI sablefish fishery to the MSC certification makes solid sense both ecologically and from a marketing perspective," said Linda Behnken of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association (ALFA). "Sablefish are highly migratory, with significant mixing between open ocean and 'inside' stocks. The only difference is that one stock is carefully managed under the federal system and one even more conservatively by the State of Alaska-both merit the MSC label and the label's marketing benefits."
Seafood Producers Cooperative (SPC), a processing and marketing cooperative located in Sitka Alaska, requested FVOA and ALFA work with the MSC to expand sablefish certification to include the Northern Southeast Inside fishery. SPC provided essential information required during the certification review, facilitating the successful outcome of the process.
"This was a strong team effort by FVOA, DSFU, ALFA and SPC to secure appropriate MSC marketing benefits for our fixed gear members and the fleet generally," said Jeff Reynolds, General Manager of SPC. "The domestic demand for sablefish, which is an exceptional deep water fish, is growing and customers deserve to know that the fixed gear fishery is sustainably managed throughout Alaska. The MSC label provides that level of confidence both in the US and overseas."
For more information contact: Bob Alverson, FVOA, roberta@fvoa.org, (206) 283-7735
Linda Behnken, ALFA, alfafishak@gmail.com, 907-738-3615
Becky Martello, SPC, BMartello@spcsales.com, 907-738-2605
Jim Johnson, DSFU, jj.deepseafishermensunion@gmail.com,
(206) 783-2922