Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) will support GEAC in its effort to achieve certification for the fisheries.
The offshore component of these fisheries currently has a total allowable catch (TAC) of over 8,000 metric tons.
Ocean Choice International (OCI) holds the largest portion of the TAC at approximately 40 per cent.
OCI has also announced its greysole and witch flounder fisheries in NAFO areas 2J3KL, 3NO and 3Ps will enter into a Fisheries Improvement Project that will be sponsored by GEAC with the support of SFP.
The Fisheries Improvement Project will monitor the fisheries as they are managed to reach readiness for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification process.
Those fisheries have a Canadian TAC of almost 1,800 metric tons of which OCI holds 85 per cent.
“OCI has been very committed to achieving MSC certification for all of our fisheries,” OCI CEO Martin Sullivan said in a news release.
“With over 90 per cent of our current resource base MSC certified, these (Fisheries Improvement Projects) will prepare our key remaining fisheries for the MSC certification process, putting us near the finish line of 100 per cent MSC certified fisheries.”
