Alaskan Salmon Fishery Drops Eco-Certification, BC Groups Take Credit
BC’s wild salmon threatened by Alaskan fishing practices, say conservation groups
An announcement by salmon processors in Alaska that they will discontinue eco-certification with the U.K.-based Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is being viewed as a victory by B.C. conservation groups that had challenged the recertification of the Alaskan salmon fishery.
In recent years, the MSC has drawn criticism for certifying fisheries that have questionable sustainability. The council sparked an outcry in 2010 when it certified B.C. sockeye salmon, part of the troubled Fraser River fishery which has been in decline for years.
The MSC responded that certification was based on a fishery’s management, not on its stocks, and that the closure of the Fraser to all fishing after it crashed in 2009 indicated appropriate management.
Last week, Watershed Watch Salmon Society along with Raincoast Conservation Foundation and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust announced they would challenge the recertification of Alaskan salmon fisheries, which was already in process.
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