The lobster fishery on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Atlantic Canada has achieved certification against the global, science-based Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard as a sustainable and well-managed fishery. Following an independent assessment conducted by the conformity assessment body, SAI Global, lobster sourced from this fishery is now eligible to bear the blue MSC ecolabel.
About the Gaspésie lobster fishery
Lobster (Homarus americanus) is one of the most abundant crustaceans in the waters of Atlantic Canada and Northeast United States, which are the primary regions landing this species.
The Gaspésie fishery is represented by client group, the Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie (RPPSG), and is managed by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Quebec Region. The fishery incorporates 163 license holders accounting for all of the current commercial lobster harvesters in the area.
The fishery typically operates in the spring for up to 71 days, depending upon location, and uses baited traps to catch lobster. Conservation measures include implemented programs such as restrictions on the length of season, the number of licenses and the number and size of traps, in addition to minimum and maximum legal sizes, escape vents and biodegradable clips.
The lobster fishery occurs in Atlantic Canadian waters in FAO Fishing Area 21, Canadian Lobster Fishing Areas (LFAs) 19, 20 and 21 that are adjacent to the Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec. In 2013, fishermen landed 1,370 metric tonnes of lobster, accounting for one third of the lobster landed in the province of Quebec. Gaspésie lobster is sold in different forms with the principal product of live lobster sold primarily in Quebec markets, in addition to other markets in Canada and the United States.
Conservation measures protect resource for future
O’Neil Cloutier, executive director of Regroupement des pêcheurs professionnels du sud de la Gaspésie, said: “MSC certification further demonstrates that the Gaspésie fishery is sustainable and well-managed. Through continued implementation of conservation measures and the modernization of our fleet to incorporate electronic logbooks to provide real-time, reliable, management and scientific data, we are working hard to protect the resource in our area for the future of lobster and for the future well-being of the Gaspé region.”
MSC certification brings confidence to consumers
"We congratulate Gaspésie lobster license holders and RPPSG on the achievement of certification to the global, science-based MSC standard,” said Jay Lugar, program director, Canada. "Lobster is a highly desired, visible, seasonal local seafood in the province of Quebec and markets beyond. The addition of lobster from Gaspé to the range of MSC certified products available in Quebec will bring more confidence to Chain of Custody buyers and consumers that seafood from this region originates from a sustainable and well-managed fishery meeting the global MSC standard.”
About the assessment and certification
SAI Global, an independently accredited certifier, was the certifier for this assessment against the MSC standard. During the assessment, the three principles of the MSC standard were evaluated in detail: the status of the fish stock, the impact of the fishery on the marine ecosystem and the management system overseeing the fishery. Throughout the assessment, RPPSG was supported by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ministère de l'agriculture, des pêcheries et de l'alimentation du Québec and Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Québec. More information about the Gaspésie fishery and the complete Public Certification Report detailing the fishery’s passing scores against the MSC standard can be found on MSC’s web site at www.msc.org/track-a-fishery/certified.
About the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organization set up to help transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis. The MSC runs the only certification and ecolabeling program for wild-capture fisheries consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization Guidelines for the Ecolabeling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries. These guidelines are based upon the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing and require that credible fishery certification and ecolabeling schemes include.
- Objective, third-party fishery assessment utilizing scientific evidence;
- Transparent processes with built-in stakeholder consultation and objection procedures;
- Standards based on the sustainability of target species, ecosystems and management practices.
The MSC has regional or area offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Beijing, Berlin, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Halifax, Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Santiago, Moscow, Salvador, Singapore and Reykjavik.
In total, over 350 fisheries are engaged in the MSC program with 252 certified and 100 under full assessment. Together, fisheries already certified or in full assessment record annual catches of close to ten million metric tonnes of seafood. This represents over eleven per cent of the annual global harvest of wild capture fisheries. Certified fisheries currently land over seven million metric tonnes of seafood annually – close to eight per cent of the total harvest from wild capture fisheries. Worldwide, more than 25,000 seafood products, which can be traced back to the certified sustainable fisheries, bear the blue MSC ecolabel.
For more information on the work of the MSC, please visit www.msc.org
Source: Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
