Australia’s Small Pelagic Fishing Industry Association (SPFIA) has confirmed to Undercurrent News that it will re-apply for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, after one of its memebers dropped its own bid.
Controversial supertrawler the Geelong Star had announced previously that it had abandoned its bid to secure certification for Australia’s Small Pelagic Fishery.
This news — revealed by co-operator of the freezer vessel Seafish Tasmania — was welcomed by pressure group Stop the Trawler Alliance, which felt there was no way the vessel could operate sustainably.
However, in a statement issued to Undercurrent, SPFIA explained that the Geelong Star only ended its own bid because the association will now be applying for the industry as a whole.
“SPFIA is extremely committed to the sustainability of fish stocks now and for years to come in Australia’s small pelagic fishery,” it said.
“Late in 2014 Seafish Tasmania hired a conformity assessment body (CAB) to assess the small pelagic fishery against the MSC criteria for sustainable fishing.”
“Since requesting this assessment, the SPFIA was formed, and now represents the interests of quota holders across the entire fishery. Seafish Tasmania is only one member of this association, and it has been agreed that it is more appropriate that MSC certification for the fishery is carried forward by the association, as benefits from MSC certification will flow to all members.”
“For that reason the application for MSC assessment by the MSC will be re-instated by the SPFIA. Seafish Tasmania and the SPFIA looks forward to the extensive stakeholder consultation as part of this important independent, third party process.”
This will no doubt come as bad news to the environmental groups which had earlier issued a statement welcoming the apparent abandonment of the MSC bid.
No responsible independent organisation could possibly give super trawlers in the Small Pelagic Fishery a tick of sustainability, and the fact that Seafish has withdrawn their application suggests they know this, said Rebecca Hubbard of Environment Tasmania, and coordinator of the alliance.
The operation of the Geelong Star in the SPF has numerous questions hanging over its head including the impacts on whale sharks, dolphins and other protected species, and potential impacts on much more valuable fisheries caused by localised depletion, added Adrian Meder, of the Australian Marine Conservation Society.
We always suspected that MSC certification was a smoke and mirrors stunt,” said John Edwards, president of the Tasmanian Game Fishing Association.
“It was obviously just another worthless political ploy; like so many of the other valueless undertakings this company has made to recreational fishers.”
Just weeks out from the Australian federal election, protests, led by Stop the Trawler Alliance, have continued to grow in support of a permanent ban on super trawlers in the country’s waters.
In a statement last week, the group claimed Australian jobs, fisheries and iconic marine life were “under threat from foreign fishing companies given a free pass by the major political parties to deplete Australian waters, endanger jobs and send millions of dollars off-shore.