The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has withdrawn its objection to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of the Russian Sea of Okhotsk Mid-water Trawl Walleye Pollock Fishery, as an agreement has been reached.
WWF says that it had no direct concerns with the fishery, but the way in which the certification body, Intertek Moody Marine, had defined the improvements that needed to be made by the fishery in order to attain certification.
Daniel Suddaby, WWF, said to World Fishing & Aquaculture: The objection related to improvements we felt needed to be made in the observer programme. We wanted more reassurance over the data collection process to ensure that the fishery was managed properly to minimise impact to the local marine ecosystem.
Mr Suddaby said that through discussion and negotiation with the certifying body, these concerns have now been resolved.
However, the WWF objection was only one of two received. The objection received by the At-Sea Processors Association (APA), predominantly over how the fishery was scored to attain certification, is still outstanding.
APA says its concerns relate to Several procedural irregularities in the assessment process contributed to unjustifiable scoring decisions. It says that the assessment team acted arbitrarily and unreasonably in making scoring decisions, making them too high across the board.
This objection will be going to adjudication at an oral hearing on 31 May 2013 at the MSC Offices in London.
MSC says that objections form a normal part of the assessment and provide a formal, independent review of the scoring decisions made by the certifier.
Mercator Media Ltd 2013