Major Salmon Producers Drop MSC

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — After eight of the largest processors of wild Alaska salmon announced plans to drop certification by the Marine Stewardship Council, Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, client for the fisheries, said it would discontinue its support of the MSC certification program as well.

The processors include Trident Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Peter Pan Seafoods, Alaska General Seafoods, E&E Foods, Kwikpak Fisheries and North Pacific Seafoods.

“The majority of these processors now feel it is time to redirect their resources toward a broader marketing message,” AFDF stated in a release. The producers can continue to use the MSC seal and branding through the end of 2012, and the new marketing message will possibly emphasize that Alaska wild salmon is required by law to be sustainable.

“Title 8 of our Alaska constitution mandates that all our natural resources — including salmon — be managed on a sustainable yield basis,” AFDF Executive Director James Browning told SN.

Industry sources have said that Alaska salmon fisheries have been daunted by changing standards put forth by MSC. Pressured by activist groups, MSC has made requirements for certification increasingly cumbersome.