The MSC is a London-based independent, global nonprofit organization that educates the public about fishery resources that are being managed in a sustainable, responsible manner. The group provides a list of fish products for consumers that have been harvested under MSC’s guiding principles.
Bob Alverson, general manager of the Seattle-based FVOA, said FVOA and DSFU formed a separate nonprofit corporation, called “Eat on the Wild Side,” to work through the process of obtaining the certification. FVOA members taxed themselves $1,700 per season to raise the approximately $150,000 necessary to receive the label.
Alverson explained that the money went for a certifying company, Scientific Certifications based in San Francisco. The firm put together a three-person team: an expert in population dynamic science, another person involved in environmental science, and another in what Alverson called “bureaucratic structure.” That team went through 24 pages of questions, about eight questions to the page.
“We ended up having to hire someone to put together a bibliography,” Alverson said, “and that bibliography showed where the answers were to all those questions in different research publications, either the Halibut Commission, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, NMFS, or Washington Department of Fisheries, or wherever the answers they were seeking were. The three-person team then reviewed all that stuff to see what was deficient and what wasn’t.”
Alverson said “Eat on the Wild Side” controls the certification and has plans to recoup at least some of the costs, since all halibut fishermen will benefit from the program.
“What we’re doing is we’re giving all the fishermen, whether they know it or not, the opportunity to sell their product with an MSC option,” he said, “and we’re signing contracts. We’ve signed a contract with Icicle Seafoods, Norquest, North Pacific Fisheries, the Seafood Producer’s Co-op, and Bering Select Seafoods so far, and we’re going to collect a cent per pound for anything that is sold under the MSC label to help maintain the MSC certification.”
Alverson went on to say that the label is already going to work for fishermen.
“On May 3rd, Whole Foods is going to do a two-week special on MSC halibut,” he said. “They’ve gone out to their traditional buyers which include Icicle and Seafood Producers Co-op, and they’re obtaining the product for this two-week special.”
He also announced that sablefish, or black cod, will receive the MSC eco-friendly label on May 10. That also was sponsored by “Eat on the Wild Side.”
Alverson sees this certification as a major step forward for Alaska seafood, as major retailers in the United States attempt to woo the health-conscious consumer.
“The big retailers such as Wal-Mart, Costco and Whole Foods are all trying to look good in the eyes of the public by promoting healthy food,” he explained. “So we see this as a promotion for our industry. It’s a way to help generate a unique recognition for Alaska-produced longline products, so that should farmed fish come along or some other competition, then we’ve built a niche as a responsible, sustainable resource, and that keeps us on the menu.”
Cristy Fry has commercial fished in Homer since 1978. She also designs and builds gear for the industry. She currently longlines for halibut and gillnets salmon in upper Cook Inlet aboard the F/V Realist. She can be reached at cristy-fry@excite.com.
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