Post by SHARK on Apr 21, 2009 21:38:40 GMT 1
Channel fisheries accreditation move announced
THE new Channel and West Sustainable Trawling Group today announced the launch of a bid to achieve full accreditation of key English Channel fisheries: Dover sole, megrim and monkfish.
The group said they were making the move following favourable pre-assessment reports.
In June 2007, the grouping (C&WSTG) was set up to secure consumer confidence in the sustainability of fisheries exploitation activities and in the management of the marine environment.
The C&WSTG believes it has to prove to retailers and the wider public that the terms ‘beam trawling’ and ‘sustainable’ are not mutually exclusive. The best way to do this, they say, is by gaining MSC accreditation of the key target fisheries pursued by beam trawlers in the English Channel and SW approaches, Dover sole, monkfish and megrim.
With this defence, the C&WSTG believes that demand and prices received for beam trawler landings will stabilise, securing long-term and profitable viability looking forward. Amongst the aims of the group is to secure their markets by demonstrating that the key beam trawl fisheries in SW England can be targeted in a sustainable fashion through independent MSC certification. It is hoped that MSC certification will lead to greater promotion of species like megrim in the UK market place, which would lead to increased prices.
The benefit of accreditation to the marine environment, they say, should be significant, as the route to accreditation is likely to require seabed mapping, defining sensitive areas and implementing strategies for avoiding these areas. Other measures of a more technical nature, such as fitting of benthic release panels to reduce discards, square mesh panels and enrolment onto the Seafish Responsible Fishing Scheme have also been highlighted in the pre-assessment reports and should yield tangible benefits to the environment.
The aim of the group is to help secure and maintain direct employment in the SW beam trawl sector, currently around 300 jobs.
The diversity and quality of fish and shellfish landed in SW Fishing Ports is claimed to be unrivalled in the UK. There are more than forty different and distinct commercial species, with marked seasonal variations throughout the year. Of renown amongst them are Dover sole, megrim, anglerfish (commonly called monkfish), lemon sole, pollack, mackerel, sprats, brown crab, spider crab, scallops, squid and cuttlefish.
THE new Channel and West Sustainable Trawling Group today announced the launch of a bid to achieve full accreditation of key English Channel fisheries: Dover sole, megrim and monkfish.
The group said they were making the move following favourable pre-assessment reports.
In June 2007, the grouping (C&WSTG) was set up to secure consumer confidence in the sustainability of fisheries exploitation activities and in the management of the marine environment.
The C&WSTG believes it has to prove to retailers and the wider public that the terms ‘beam trawling’ and ‘sustainable’ are not mutually exclusive. The best way to do this, they say, is by gaining MSC accreditation of the key target fisheries pursued by beam trawlers in the English Channel and SW approaches, Dover sole, monkfish and megrim.
With this defence, the C&WSTG believes that demand and prices received for beam trawler landings will stabilise, securing long-term and profitable viability looking forward. Amongst the aims of the group is to secure their markets by demonstrating that the key beam trawl fisheries in SW England can be targeted in a sustainable fashion through independent MSC certification. It is hoped that MSC certification will lead to greater promotion of species like megrim in the UK market place, which would lead to increased prices.
The benefit of accreditation to the marine environment, they say, should be significant, as the route to accreditation is likely to require seabed mapping, defining sensitive areas and implementing strategies for avoiding these areas. Other measures of a more technical nature, such as fitting of benthic release panels to reduce discards, square mesh panels and enrolment onto the Seafish Responsible Fishing Scheme have also been highlighted in the pre-assessment reports and should yield tangible benefits to the environment.
The aim of the group is to help secure and maintain direct employment in the SW beam trawl sector, currently around 300 jobs.
The diversity and quality of fish and shellfish landed in SW Fishing Ports is claimed to be unrivalled in the UK. There are more than forty different and distinct commercial species, with marked seasonal variations throughout the year. Of renown amongst them are Dover sole, megrim, anglerfish (commonly called monkfish), lemon sole, pollack, mackerel, sprats, brown crab, spider crab, scallops, squid and cuttlefish.