On Tuesday 7 May at Seafood Expo Global, the Russian Federation Barents Sea cod and haddock fishery celebrated their Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
Det Norske Veritas (DNV) presented the certificate to Igor Grekov, production manager of ZAO Strelets and Vitaliy Prutkov, marketing director.
The Russian companies entered their joint cod and haddock fishery into assessment for MSC certification in March 2013.The fishery successfully completed the assessment just before the world's largest seafood trade event.
“ZAO Strelets and ZAO Eridan have been taking part in a program of observance of sustainable fisheries and traceability of fishery products for many years. As the owners of the companies decided to rebrand their business and create a new supply chain, the question of our vessels’ Barents Sea cod and haddock fishing and independent certification against MSC principles became acute,” said Prutkov. “For us, the presence of such a certificate is more than just one more confirmation of the legality of fish catching, fishing regulations respecting and caring for future generations, but also a kind of ticket to new markets. More and more buyers of fish products ask us the same question at the first negotiation: ‘Do you have a MSC certificate?’ Now we can reply, ‘Yes, we do.’
“Atlantic cod and haddock are key components of the global whitefish market. Various international fisheries targeting cod and haddock in areas ICES I and II are already MSC certified,” said Camiel Derichs, MSC regional director Europe.
