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Alaska's pollock fishery has begun the assessment process required for continuing certification under the Marine Stewardship Council's sustainable seafoods program. The Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery and the Bering sea and Aleutian islands pollock fishery, which together account for 100 percent of the targeted catch for Alaska pollock, were first certified in February 2005. Each MSC certificate is valid for five years, dependent on annual audits, and full reassessment is required every five years to ensure that the fisheries continue to meet MSC standards. MSC's program is considered the leading global standard for certified sustainable seafood. For a fishery to become MSC-certified, a third-party auditor assesses three major principles based on the MSC standard. They include the status of the fish stock, the impact that the fishery has on the marine ecosystem, and the management system overseeing the fishery. At-Sea Processors Association is the client representing both fisheries in the current assessment process. Stephanie Madsen, executive director of APA, said Alaska pollock fisheries continue to be among the most progressively managed fisheries in the world. "MSC certification further strengthens international recognition of Alaska pollock sustainability and provides seafood buyers an independent, third-party validation that Alaska pollock is a great environmental choice," she said. In passing MSC assessment the first time around, certifiers noted the precautionary approach of setting annual harvest levels below biological catch levels set by federal, state and academic scientists. Certifiers also found there to be a very low rate of other species caught incidentally, and federal observer coverage on 100 percent of pollock fishing vessels and on-shore processing facilities, and a community development quota system that allocates a portion of the catch to local communities. MSC is an international nonprofit organization that was set up in 1997 to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. MSC currently runs the only widely recognized environmental certification and eco-labeling program for the wild capture fisheries. Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
