Baja Lobster Fishery Earns MSC Sustainable Practices Certification
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=130-0428200...
MEXICO CITY, April 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Consumers and institutional suppliers have a new and important opportunity to support sustainable fishing
practices in the developing world thanks to the newly announced Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of the Baja California Peninsula spiny
lobster fishery.
The federation of fishing cooperatives (FEDECOOP) on the Pacific coast of Mexico is the first community fishery of a developing country to win MSC
certification, passing the rigorous, independent review for compliance with global criteria for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. "Conservation
is good business because sustainable fisheries translate into sustainable human communities," said Omar Vidal, director of WWF's Mexico office. "Good
management of fisheries ensures that fishing remains a way of life for coastal communities.
Since 2001, WWF and Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI), a local nongovernmental organization, have been working closely with the Mexican authorities and
the fishery communities organized under FEDECOOP to achieve MSC certification. Five hundred fishermen belonging to nine fishing cooperatives in
central Baja California are part of FEDECOOP. "By achieving MSC certification, this fishery will become a successful model for small fisheries around
the world," Vidal added.
"Generation after generation, our community has made its living from the lobster fishery. We are proud to get MSC certification as recognition to the
many years of cooperation and care of our marine resources," said Jesus Camacho, president of FEDECOOP. "We are looking forward to accessing new
markets. This is a crucial incentive to maintain the excellent conditions of our fishery, and to compete in an increasingly globalized market while
keeping our lifestyle." "The certification of the Baja California spiny lobster fishery is very exciting. Given the proximity of the Baja lobster
fishery to the U.S. market, especially California where there is significant consumer interest in environmentally-friendly food products,
MSC-certified Baja lobstermen can use this opportunity to find advantageous niche markets that will pay a price premium for their product.," said Dr.
Cathy A. Roheim, a professor at the University of Rhode Island's Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. "The spiny lobster
fishery between Isla Cedros and Punta Abreojos in the Northern Pacific region, now certified as sustainable, can teach us how to capitalize on
globalization," said Luis Bourillon, executive president of COBI. These organized fisheries will demonstrate to the rest of Mexico, Latin America and
the world, how a small business can benefit from global markets while supporting community development." The right to use the MSC ecolabel earned by
the fishery helps assure consumers that their seafood product was caught in an environmentally sustainable and responsible manner, helping solve, not
contribute to, crises facing the world's fisheries. More than 100 major seafood buyers all over the globe have pledged to purchase MSC-certified
seafood products, including major supermarket chains in France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The MSC is an
independent, nonprofit organization, originally created by WWF and Unilever, one of the world's largest fish processors. "Certification allows
consumers to vote with their wallets to stop overfishing and create market incentives for healthy fisheries and, ultimately, healthier oceans," said
Scott Burns, director of the WWF-U.S. Marine Conservation Program. "It allows us all to reward those who have the foresight to protect our fisheries
and our oceans for future generations. With the help of responsible fishermen and seafood businesses and the increasing availability of certified
products, we can all help to save our seas." Worldwide, the United Nations estimates that 60 percent of the most valuable commercial fisheries are
currently overfished or fished to the limit. "The MSC's standards for sustainable fishing offer the best hope for changing the way fish are caught and
bought, and for ensuring that there will be fish in the future," added Burns. WWF congratulated FEDECOOP on its certification status and also looks
forward to working with them and the auditors in helping the fishery keep the conditions of certification and penetrate new global markets.
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