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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 10
June 2008
Red crabbers on path to MSC certification
GLOUCESTER, MA – The New England Red Crab Harvesters Association has passed a crucial hurdle and is now in the full assessment phase for obtaining Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for the Atlantic deep-sea red crab fishery.
The achievement is a milestone for red crabbers, who began the certification process roughly four years ago.
“We’re the only fishery on the East Coast to get this far,” said association President Jon Williams.
The MSC provides independent certification for fisheries that are deemed sustainable and well managed under rigorous international standards.
Several West Coast and Alaska fisheries are among the 26 fisheries worldwide that have earned MSC certification to date. They include, among others: US North Pacific halibut, US North Pacific sablefish, Alaska salmon, and Alaska pollock. All now carry the MSC eco-label in the marketplace.
Maine is exploring the possibility of MSC certification for its American lobster fishery (see CFN May 2008 for details), and the idea also has been broached by northern shrimp fishermen.
The New England Red Crab Harvesters Association successfully completed pre-assessment requirements for certification this past December. Now the group is involved in the nine-to-12-month review period required for earning full MSC certification.
Detailed investigation
The red crab association recently won a grant from the California-based Sustainable Fisheries Fund (SFF) to help finance half of the assessment process. The SFF said it makes grants available to reduce the financial hurdles confronting fishermen who want to adopt sustainable practices and “potentially benefit from certification under MSC standards.”
According to the MSC, the full Atlantic deep-sea red crab assessment will involve analyses of the status of the stock, impacts of the fishery on the marine environment, and “the effectiveness of the management system overseeing the fishery.”
The assessment process itself is being overseen by Scientific Certification Systems Inc. in Emeryville, CA, an independent MSC certifier, which has put out a call for public comments from all stakeholders and interested parties (contact info below).
Fishery
The Atlantic deep-sea red crab fishery is conducted in offshore waters from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border. The fishery currently is comprised of four active vessels that fish traps 400-800 meters deep primarily along the continental shelf.
The New England Fishery Management Council developed a management plan for the fishery, which was implemented in 2002. The limited-access fishery operates under an annual target total allowable catch (TAC) of 5.928 million pounds – or 2,688 metric tons (mt). The fleet typically lands less than that, more on the order of 4.2 million pounds annually, which translates into roughly 945,000 pounds of crab meat. Fishermen also operate under a fleet-wide total of 780 days-at-sea.
The status of the red crab resource with regards to overfishing or being overfished is classified as “unknown” because biological reference points have yet to be established.
However, according to the 2006 stock assessment conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, which was based on 2003-2005 trawl survey data, the “fishable biomass” of male deep-sea red crabs – the target of the commercial fishery – was estimated to be 80 million pounds, up slightly from the last assessment conducted in 1974.
This latest biomass estimate of males was lower than in 1974, most likely due to the commercial fishery, but the assessment found a larger number of small crabs.
Most of the deep-sea red crab fleet’s product is being purchased by Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Red Lobster.
However, one boat in the fleet – Williams’ Diamond Girl – recently has been fishing out of Newport News, VA and has generated extensive and very positive local interest in the product.
One of the reasons the New England Red Crab Harvesters Association has been seeking MSC certification is to help the industry break into new markets, including those demanding “sustainable” and “green” seafood products.
“Certification will help to ensure the economic viability of the fleet,” said Williams.
Brad Ack, director of the MSC’s Americas region, said, “By pursuing this standard, the Atlantic deep sea red crab fishery is setting a strong example that we hope to see other East Coast crab fisheries follow.”
Comments on the MSC assessment process for the deep-sea red crab fishery can be mailed or faxed to: Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), 2200 Powell Street, Suite 725, Emeryville, CA 94608; (510) 452-8001.
For more information on the assessment, call SCS’s Jason Swecker at (510) 452-8043. His e-mail address is <jswecker@scscertified.com>.
The SCS web site address is <www.scscertified.com>.
Janice M. Plante
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