Certifying Fisheries and Chain of Custody for a Sustainable Future
About
MRAG Americas, Inc. is undergoing accreditation to conduct third party sustainable fishery certifications in accordance with the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing. (Download an application). These Principles and Criteria (and the corresponding scoring guideposts) are the guidelines against which client fisheries are rated. A client fishery must meet or exceed the minimum standards for 1) stock assessment and stock status, 2) ecosystem impacts, and 3) fishery management system to receive certification.
Certification of a fishery under the MSC environmental standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries demonstrates that the fish product comes from a fishery that is well managed and harvested at sustainable rates. The MSC authorizes the use of its logo as a label on certified products to reward environmentally responsible fishery management and practices. Consumers, concerned about overfishing and its environmental and social consequences, will increasingly be able to choose seafood products based on sustainability of the fishery resource. Consumers can have confidence that the product labeled with the MSC logo has not contributed to overfishing or environmental destruction.
In addition, MRAG Americas is also undergoing accreditation to perform Chain of Custody certifications under the MSC standard. (Download an application). The Chain of Custody certification, which is the traceability element of the MSC Certification Program, ensures that the product purchased by a consumer was sourced from a sustainably certified fishery. To see a list of our clients who have been certified to the MSC Chain of Custody Standard and their contact information, click here. To see detailed information on the products that they have available, please visit http://msc.org/html/content_561.htm
MRAG Americas and MRAG Ltd. has a history with successful fisheries certifications, having participated as a member on several Assessment Teams, and will be integral to many future certifications. MRAG has been critical in the completed certifications of the South Georgia Toothfish fishery, Heard Island Icefish, and Bering Sea Longline Cod; and currently participates in the ongoing certifications for Atlantic Striped Bass and Norwegian Saithe. In addition, MRAG staff took part in the preparation of a detailed advisory paper prior to the certification of the Alaska pollock fishery and provided advice on the revised Performance Indicators and scoring guideposts for the re-assessment of New Zealand hoki.
Lean more about Who's Involved and the Certification Process.
For more information please contact:
Dr. Robert Trumble
Vice President
MRAG Americas, Inc. Southeast Office
10051 5th Street North, Suite 105
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
(727) 563-9070
certification@mragamericas.com
Customer License Code MSCI0408
MRAG Americas is fully accredited
to perform chain of custody certifications and
is undergoing
accreditation by ASI to undertake fishery certifications.