Federal agencies no longer need third-party certification of salmon sustainability, Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office reports.
When the National Park Service refused to sell Alaskan salmon in its concessions operations unless a third-party sustainability group certified it, Murkowski introduced legislation that would prohibit federal agencies from using third-party non-governmental certification organizations like the London-based Marine Stewardship Council.
In January 2012, eight of the major players in Alaska’s fishing industry — which together bring in about 72 percent of the state’s harvest — said they were no longer going to seek certification from the MSC. Some in the fishing industry said the cost of MSC certification wasn’t worth it and that Alaska’s salmon resources are sustainable by virtue of being Alaskan — sustainability is written into the Alaska Constitution, MSC critics said.
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