The Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) has conducted pre-assessments and developed fishery improvement projects and action plans in preparation for certification of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for a number of marine catch off the coast of India that include coastal shrimps, deep-sea shrimp, octopus, squid, cuttlefish and blue swimming crab among other commercially important marine species.
The MSC is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for the world’s most recognisable fisheries sustainability standard. Skipjack tuna fisheries in the Lakshadweep islands has completed its fisheries improvement programme (FIP) recently. The WWF-India and the International Pole and Line Foundation collaborated for the Lakshadweep project.
The first fishery resource in India to be MSC certified (2013) was the Ashtamudi waters short-necked clam. There have been no other certifications over the last decade in India. SEAI members have formed two consortia to support the process towards MSC certification, said veteran marine scientist Sunil Mohamed, chair of the Sustainable Seafood Network India. He was speaking to The Hindu here on the sidelines of a two-day multi-stakeholder dialogue to promote fisheries sustainability in India on the occasion of World Ocean Day. The programme is backed by the NITI Aayog, WWF-India, and SSNI.
The deep-sea shrimp trawl fishery is part of the council’s In-Transition to MSC programme, and a grant of £44,310 has been awarded to the WWF-India to support the fishery improvement project. From 2021 onwards, these fisheries can enter full-assessment against the MSC’s Fisheries Standard, said the organisers of the programme. MSC certification will help Indian seafood achieve more visibility and acceptability in the world market. Ecolabels, says FAO, are seals of approval to products that are deemed to have fewer impacts on the environment compared to similar products in competition. MSC representatives Edouard Le Bart, Michael Marriott, Matt Watson, and Louanne Mostert helped coordinate the discussions with seafood exporters and marine researchers from the CMFRI, CIFT, CUSAT and FSI.