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SOUTH Africans who wish to get pleasure from a parcel of hake and chips with a transparent conscience shall be happy to know that the tasty, nutritious quick meals comes from a fishery that’s steadily working in the direction of a stamp of approval from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
The South African longline fishery for hake has secured a £50 000 (R1.2 million) grant from the MSC’s Ocean Stewardship Fund.
The grant was awarded to the fishery by means of the South African Hake Longline Affiliation (SAHLLA) – and its implementing company, Capricorn Marine Environmental (CapMarine). It’ll fund a two-year programme that may catapult the fishery in the direction of attaining full MSC certification.
The MSC’s blue ecolabel is the world’s most generally recognised label for licensed sustainable seafood. It’s recognized to unlock seafood markets, significantly in northern Europe the place shoppers have a excessive diploma of consciousness about fisheries sustainability.
Functions for grants come from everywhere in the world and the South African hake longline fishery is one in every of solely 16 fisheries to safe funding from the fund in 2023. SAHLLA nationwide chairperson, Clyde Bodenham, mentioned, for the previous ten years, SAHLLA and its members have directed substantial effort in the direction of attaining MSC certification.
The funding will allow the longline fishery to proceed to implement fisher coaching and consciousness programmes and collate and analyse observer information, with the target of lowering bycatch and enhancing the dealing with and launch of endangered, threatened and guarded species, significantly seabirds. It’ll additionally enhance data of the fishery’s footprint, finally serving to to cut back its affect on the deep-sea surroundings.
Whereas SAHLLA members will nonetheless have monetary tasks, the awarding of the grant is constructive recognition of the work that the longline fishery has been doing to enhance its environmental efficiency. In 2013, following the itemizing by the South African Sustainable Seas Initiative (WWF-SASSI) of longline-caught hake as “orange” on its Fish Listing – due to issues in regards to the incidental seize of species not focused by fishers and detrimental impacts on seabirds – SAHLLA collaborated with WWF-SA and CapMarine to implement a Fishery Conservation Mission (FCP) to establish gaps within the fishery’s sustainability profile and develop actions for focused enchancment.
The success of the FCP culminated within the transition from a SASSI score of “orange” to “inexperienced” for each species of longline-caught hake and kingklip.
Though the FCP and the vast majority of related actions had been accomplished in 2015, a MSC-prescribed pathway was required for the fishery to satisfy the MSC Fisheries Normal and obtain certification. In 2019 SAHLLA reinitiated the at-sea observer programme utilizing unbiased, third-party scientific observers. An affiliation was additionally established with BirdLife South Africa to analyze the extent of seabird mortality and develop vessel-specific bird-scaring strains to cut back the hazard to birds by fishing gear.
Andrea Angel of BirdLife South Africa welcomed the funding awarded to SAHLLA, saying they may proceed to collaborate.
Bodenheim mentioned the work carried out over the subsequent two years will allow SAHLLA to steer the hake longline fishery in the direction of assembly the MSC’s certification requirements. “The globally recognised MSC ecolabel – a benchmark of seafood sustainability – is the beguiling reward that’s now effectively inside attain.”
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