The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has suspended its Certification of Rockall Haddock effective of 23 July 2022 after a recommendation by the independent conformity assessment body (CAB).

With the suspension now in place, fish caught on or after 23 July 2022 will no longer meet the MSC Standard and therefore cannot carry the blue MSC ecolabel. This suspension was not issued by the MSC but the fishery’s independent conformity assessment body (CAB), who conduct the assessments and decide if fisheries meet the strict and robust standard.

It is a result of the fishery no longer meeting the scoring requirements on habitats management, due to incursions from some accredited UK vessels into protected areas between 2018 -2022, some of which contain vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs).

This suspension only applies to the Scottish Fisheries Sustainable Accreditation Group (SFSAG) Rockall haddock.

“The fishery has 90 days, from the suspension date, to adopt an action plan addressing the reasons for its suspension. If an action plan is submitted and confirmed by the certifier, the suspension will nevertheless remain in force until the reasons for the suspension are eliminated. If a fishery fails to submit an action plan within the prescribed period, the suspension turns into a withdrawal of the certificate.”  

To read the full article in The Fishing Daily click here.