Britain’s fish industry to set green records

Britain’s fishing industry is set to break records as a number of fleets are to be awarded “eco-labels”, making the industry one of the greenest across the globe.

This has come to light since the Marine Stewardship Council, overseers of the most widely acknowledged scheme for fisheries, stated that many of the UK’s largest fleets are set to join its labelling scheme for their catches of dover, sole, prawns, herring and haddock.

The council expects this labelling process to have been completed by next year, with an estimated 275,000 tonnes of fish from mackerel to sea bass caught by British trawlers carrying the trademark blue eco-label. This label proves the produce’s environmental credentials and will then allow takeaways and supermarkets to sell “green” fish.

Current eco-labelled fisheries in Britain simply cover smaller, niche industries that catch such seafood as dover sole, cockles and langoustines, all of which account for only 4,580 tonnes per annum.

This move marks a profound change in the industries attitude towards the “green”. The industry has experienced decades of conflict with green campaigners concerning plummeting fish stocks and illegal landings, especially in the North Sea.

To be awarded the labelling fisheries are required to agree to strict catch levels, use only the correct fishing nets, to protect young and spawning stock and to slash the “by-catch” of non-target species.

In conjunction with this move by the Marine Stewardship Council the Sea Fish Industry Authority has managed to convince 437 UK trawlers (approximately 60% of the British fleet) to participate in a “responsible fishing” scheme.

These environmentally concerned moves by trawlers come partly from intense pressure by companies including Young’s, the largest supplier of seafood in the UK, and supermarkets.

Many of the UK’s largest retailers, especially Morrisons and Asda, have been targeted by campaigns of direct action led by Greenpeace concerning their sale of fish from depleted seas. Supermarkets in Britain now are competing to be the UK’s greenest fishmonger and many have even stopped selling threatened species including dover sole, swordfish and skate.

Waitrose and Marks & Spencer currently hold strict seafood policies, selling no unsustainable UK-caught fish. Asda has made a promise claiming that by 2012 all its fish will be MSC- certified. Sainsbury’s has pledged to double its current range of eco-labelled food. Resulting from these measures sales of eco-labelled fish in UK retailers increased 15% last year to reach £110m.

Deputy chief executive of Young’s, Mike Parker, stated that should larger fleets meet MSC assessment then up to half of all wild-fish captured by British trawlers would be eco-friendly. He labelled this as “highly significant”, making the UK an important co-fish market worldwide.

The MSC has already managed to convince two of the UK’s largest fisheries to apply for its eco-label. These Scottish fleets catch approximately 200,000 tonnes of herring and mackerel in the North Sea and North Atlantic.

Other fisheries to apply include several significant prawn fisheries, whilst North Sea cod is expected to follow suit as some Norwegian fleets have applied to join the MSC.

At present the majority of eco-labelled fish is shipped or flown into Britain from abroad, generally from fisheries around Alaska, South Africa and New Zealand that have been criticised by Greenpeace.

Greenpeace has accused the MSC of ignoring problems with “by-catch”, where large amounts of fish species are captured, and for neglecting the damage caused by trawling on delicate seabeds.

Generally Greenpeace backs the MSC but is currently concerned that the North Sea is still too threatened to allow for its fish to be branded as eco-friendly.

However the chief executive of the MSC, Robin Howes, has expressed his view that the UK industry has reached a tipping point where sustainability has become a part of the market.

Howes was adamant that the MSC is tougher than Greenpeace will admit. He then stated examples of the hoki fishery in New Zealand, which has had its quota halved, and that the council has recently refused to pass some fisheries such as one North Sea lobster fishery.