Orkney crab fishery lands world-first sustainability certification

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Orkney Crab has become the first fishery in the world to achieve certification against the Community Catch standard, a scheme designed to give small-scale, community-based fisheries a credible and affordable route to independent sustainability assurance. The certification, announced by global assurance body NSF on 13 July, recognises the fishery’s environmental practices, labour standards and social responsibility, and has since drawn cross-party recognition at Westminster.

Why the standard exists

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, small-scale fisheries account for an estimated 40 per cent of the global fish catch and employ more than 90 per cent of the world’s capture fishers, yet many are effectively shut out of established certification schemes by the cost and complexity involved. Community Catch was developed to close that gap, offering a framework tailored to the resources and operating realities of community fisheries. It draws its criteria from the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative and International Labour Organisation guidance, covering environmental stewardship, responsible fishing, labour rights, health and safety, and wider social practice. Orkney Crab is the first fishery to complete the programme, in what is also the standard’s first year of operation.

The Orkney fishery

The Orkney fleet is made up mainly of vessels under 10 metres, using low-impact, selective pot fishing that is designed to limit habitat disturbance and bycatch. The fishery lands brown crab at sizes around 10 per cent above the legal minimum, a margin intended to support stock health and longer-term sustainability. It processes more than 1,500 tonnes of brown crab a year, contributing over £6 million to the local economy and supporting incomes across Orkney’s island communities, with products sold to major UK retailers and exported to European and international markets. Managing director Paul Knight said the certification gave independent verification of practices the islands’ fishermen had maintained for generations, and strengthened the fishery’s position with buyers and consumers increasingly asking for verified credentials.

Recognition and wider significance

The achievement was marked at Westminster by an Early Day Motion tabled on 14 July by Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael, which congratulated the fishery on the world-first accolade and described the accreditation as a potential benchmark for sustainable and economically beneficial fisheries practice in coastal communities across the UK. The motion attracted seven signatures across parties. NSF and Community Catch both framed the certification as evidence that rigorous environmental and social requirements can be applied in a practical way to community fisheries. Linda Wood, chief executive of Community Catch, described Orkney Crab as an example of organised fishing communities, responsible practices and committed supply chain partners working together, and said the milestone showed the standard could offer small-scale fisheries a credible pathway to demonstrate responsible practice. For a sector often priced out of mainstream ecolabels, the question now is how many other UK creel and inshore fisheries follow Orkney’s lead.

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