EURONOR and the Compagnie des Pêches Saint Malo have applied jointly for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for their cod and haddock catches.

FROM Nord, the producers’ organisation of which both companies are members, will support and facilitate the MSC certification process. The organisation also holds the entire French quota for cod (Gadus morhua) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) in the northeast Arctic Ocean, a quota which it shares annually between the Compagnie des Pêches Saint Malo and Euronor.

Cod and haddock represent the main harvest of the Compagnie des Pêches Saint Malo trawler, the Grande Hermine.  Euronor principally targets North Sea saithe (for which it secured MSC certification in March 2010); the company also operates three freezing trawlers – the Cap Nord, the Klondyke and the Nordic II – which are also used in the north-east Arctic Ocean cod and haddock fishery.

Euronor’s saithe fishery was the first French fishery to achieve MSC certification and the Compagnie des Pêches Saint Malo is currently undergoing assessment for certification of its own saithe fishery. 

Thierry Missonnier, director of FROM Nord, said: “We support our members’ efforts to achieve MSC certification. This is an extension of our efforts to manage our fishing resource sustainably. Our members have already initiated MSC processes for saithe. Since FROM Nord was set up in 1960, we have been working very closely with Euronor and the Compagnie des Pêches Saint Malo to implement consistent and environmentally friendly measures to manage both these stocks. This joint approach is evidence of our will to strengthen our management policies.”

Xavier Leduc, Euronor CEO, said: “We became the first French fishery to achieve MSC certification in March and we are committed to this path. We want to be in a position to offer a wider range of MSC-certified products and help this relatively new ecolabel to develop throughout France.

“The success of our eco-certification is linked to the MSC’s success in France in that by renewing our commitment and diversifying our range we hope to reach an even larger number of French consumers. Cod and haddock are sought-after species in France and we hope to be in a position to supply the French market with MSC-certified cod and haddock in 2011.” 

Nicolas Guichoux, director of the MSC in Europe, said: “We are delighted that a new French fishery has chosen the MSC approach to evaluate their environmental performance and fishing practices. Should its application be successful, the certification of this fishery will help diversify the MSC offering in France and will undoubtedly give the fishery access to many different export markets.

“The commitment of fishermen to independent certification is crucial to raising awareness among consumers and offering them a greater variety of certified sustainable seafood. Stakeholder engagement in fishery assessments is also a key element of the MSC programme and I hope many stakeholders will get involved in the process.”