Newfoundland & Labrador Crab Producers Prepare For MSC Snow Crab Certification

St. John’s, NL – Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab producers announced today that their MSC assessment for snow crab is well-underway and they are confident of a positive announcement in just a few more weeks, likely in April.

“Last year at the Boston Seafood Show we were pleased to announce we were undertaking the assessment, and here we are one year later, and we are very hopeful for a successful result in just a few more weeks,” said Derek Butler, Executive Director of the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP).

ASP, representing the majority of seafood producers in the province by landed value and volume, is the client for the MSC assessment of snow crab.

“This is a large and valuable fishery in the province, with landings around 50,000 t per year in recent years,” said Butler. “And we are pleased with the progress we are making towards MSC certification, the world’s most pre-eminent seafood eco-label, featuring third-party independent assessment of fisheries in the program.”

Assuming the certification is confirmed, it will mean two of the largest fisheries in the province are MSC certified. The Association is already a client for the MSC certified northern shrimp fishery, the first MSC certified fishery in Canada in August 2008 (ASP is also client for MSC certified northern shrimp, Scotian Shelf and Gulf of St. Lawrence (Esquiman Channel).

For more information:
Derek Butler, Executive Director
Association of Seafood Producers
dbutler@seafoodproducers.org

For information on the Marine Stewardship Council, please visit www.msc.org.

Source: Association of Seafood Producers