MSC Labelling Reach 10,000 Mark

MSC announced that Stührk’s Cocktail Shrimps with Dill Cream has become the 10,000th MSC ecolabelled product to hit the global seafood market.

The blue MSC ecolabel is assurance that the product is sourced from a sustainable and well-managed fishery and helps consumers make sustainable choices when buying seafood. The label can be found on products worldwide and has an especially strong presence in the German market, where close to 3,000 products bear the MSC label.

Stührk Delikatessen based in Marne, northern Germany has included MSC certified seafood in its product range since 2007, when the company secured certification to the MSC Chain of Custody standard for seafood traceability.

“Our company believes in sustainable growth and so securing MSC Chain of Custody certification was a logical extension our philosophy. We support sustainable fisheries and are proud that it is one of our products to hit this hugely significant mark of being the 10,000th in the marketplace,” says Stührk director Lars Jochims.

The deep-sea shrimps (Pandalus borealis) used in Stührk’s Cocktail Shrimps are fished by the Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp trawl fishery which was certified to the MSC standard in 2008.

Prawn trawlers use otter trawls with a minimum mesh size of 40 mm. Small shrimps can escape through the net and so continue to grow to breeding age. A specific separating system, the Nordmore separator grate, makes sure that species that are not the target of the fishery’s operations can be avoided. The management plan also specifies that northern and spotted wolffish are put back into the sea.

The number of MSC labelled products available worldwide has doubled since April 2010. Simon Edwards, MSC Global Communications Director, commented on the growth saying, “The rate at which the number of MSC-labelled products in the global market is increasing - doubling every twelve months over the last four years - confirms that suppliers are putting sustainability at the centre of their business, and responding to their customers’ growing awareness and preferences about seafood sourcing.“