Felagid Notaskip, the Faroese Pelagic Organization, has entered its mackerel, blue whiting and herring fisheries into Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) assessments.
At the same time, the MSC suspension on the Faroese herring fishery has been lifted.
An MSC spokesman clarified the picture. “The Faroese herring was certified and suspended. The suspension is now lifted and the fishery returns to its certified status. That expires in 2016 so they’ve started a new assessment so they’ll be re-certified in time,” he told Undercurrent News.
Faroese mackerel did not pass its first assessment and is now going into assessment again, he said.
How that goes will be affected by what happens in the Mackerel Industry Northern Sustainability Alliance (MINSA) mackerel fisheries currently suspended and going through reassessment, he said. Faroese blue whiting is on its first MSC assessment.
DNV GL Business Assurance Norway, which is also handing the assessment of the mackerel fishery, announced the herring fishery is found to meet the MSC’s scope requirements that a fishery shall not be conducted under a controversial unilateral exemption to an international agreement and that the suspension of this fishery is now lifted.
The certificate for this fishery is reinstated with the immediate effect, said DNV GL. Only fish caught and landed by this fishery on or after April 1, 2015 is eligible to enter chain of custody and carry the MSC label.
For the Faroese mackerel fishery, the full-assessment is estimated to take approximately 12 months, subject to outcome of harmonization process with the group of North East Atlantic (NEA) mackerel fisheries which are currently suspended.
The proposed target eligibility date is May 1, 2015. The target certification date for blue whiting is Nov. 1, tied into the start of the Autumn season.
The MINSA mackerel fishery was suspended over the controversy with the setting of independent quotas by the Faroese and Icelanders.
In July last year, more than 700 mackerel fisheries from the European Union and Norway restarted assessment for MSC certification, more than two years after their certification was suspended.