51
3 Fisheries Production and Market Demand
• Allowing young animals to reach market size. Experience in the Moray Firth
squid fishery in Scotland suggests that heavy exploitation too early in the season
will yield squid that are too small to market (‘powder’) and adversely affect
catches later in the season (Young et al. 2006a).
• Control of fishing effort in coastal areas, especially by larger vessels, and diversification of target species so that alternatives are available in years of poor
recruitment.
• Use of selective gears to minimise by-catch.
• International agreements to protect high seas stocks such as the I� argentinus
stock in the Southwest Atlantic.
• Development of cephalopod fishery certification schemes.
3.6 Certification Schemes
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of voluntary ecolabelling programmes
for various products and sectors. Product certification and ecolabelling are tools that
can be used to support fisheries management in order to prevent overfishing and generally improve sustainability, e.g. to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing (Wessells
et al. 2001). Product certification is most commonly applied in fisheries where there
are particular monitoring and enforcement problems (e.g. in regulating access to a
fishery). It has gained heightened importance with the adoption by the FAO Council
in 2001 of the International Plan of Action (IPOA) to prevent, deter and eliminate
IUU fishing. Ensuring the chain of custody of the products, from harvest to importation into final market, is critical to the effectiveness of a product certification scheme.
One of the best-known independent certification bodies for seafood products
(among others like the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and the Monterey
Bay Aquarium/Seafood Watch) is the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which
aims to promote sustainable and responsible fisheries and fishing practices worldwide. In the preamble to the Principles and Criteria of the MSC, a sustainable fishery is defined, for purposes of MSC certification, as one which is conducted fulfilling a series of criteria:
1. It can be continued indefinitely at a reasonable level.
2. It maintains, and seeks to maximise, ecological health and abundance.
3. It maintains the diversity, structure and function of the eco-system on which it
depends as well as the quality of its habitat, minimising the adverse effects it
causes.
4. It is managed and operated in a responsible manner, in conformity with local,
national and international laws and regulations.
5. It maintains present and future economic and social options and benefits.
6. It is conducted in a socially and economically fair and responsible manner.
Labelling is also a means by which producers provide information to consumers,
so that consumers may make an informed decision. All ecolabelling schemes share
3 Fisheries Production and Market Demand
• Allowing young animals to reach market size. Experience in the Moray Firth
squid fishery in Scotland suggests that heavy exploitation too early in the season
will yield squid that are too small to market (‘powder’) and adversely affect
catches later in the season (Young et al. 2006a).
• Control of fishing effort in coastal areas, especially by larger vessels, and diversification of target species so that alternatives are available in years of poor
recruitment.
• Use of selective gears to minimise by-catch.
• International agreements to protect high seas stocks such as the I� argentinus
stock in the Southwest Atlantic.
• Development of cephalopod fishery certification schemes.
3.6 Certification Schemes
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of voluntary ecolabelling programmes
for various products and sectors. Product certification and ecolabelling are tools that
can be used to support fisheries management in order to prevent overfishing and generally improve sustainability, e.g. to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing (Wessells
et al. 2001). Product certification is most commonly applied in fisheries where there
are particular monitoring and enforcement problems (e.g. in regulating access to a
fishery). It has gained heightened importance with the adoption by the FAO Council
in 2001 of the International Plan of Action (IPOA) to prevent, deter and eliminate
IUU fishing. Ensuring the chain of custody of the products, from harvest to importation into final market, is critical to the effectiveness of a product certification scheme.
One of the best-known independent certification bodies for seafood products
(among others like the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and the Monterey
Bay Aquarium/Seafood Watch) is the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which
aims to promote sustainable and responsible fisheries and fishing practices worldwide. In the preamble to the Principles and Criteria of the MSC, a sustainable fishery is defined, for purposes of MSC certification, as one which is conducted fulfilling a series of criteria:
1. It can be continued indefinitely at a reasonable level.
2. It maintains, and seeks to maximise, ecological health and abundance.
3. It maintains the diversity, structure and function of the eco-system on which it
depends as well as the quality of its habitat, minimising the adverse effects it
causes.
4. It is managed and operated in a responsible manner, in conformity with local,
national and international laws and regulations.
5. It maintains present and future economic and social options and benefits.
6. It is conducted in a socially and economically fair and responsible manner.
Labelling is also a means by which producers provide information to consumers,
so that consumers may make an informed decision. All ecolabelling schemes share