PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — March 10, 2013 — An international organization has given its seal of approval to the Maine lobster fishery designating it as sustainable, Maine Gov. Paul LePage announced Sunday.
The London-based Marine Stewardship Council said the fishery meets its strict standards for responsible fishing practices. The announcement was made at the annual International Boston Seafood Show, with LePage surrounded by lobster fishermen, MSC representatives and others.
The MSC has been in the business of encouraging responsible fishing practices since 1997 and has now certified nearly 200 fisheries worldwide representing more than 10 percent of the global seafood harvest. Fisheries that make the cut can use the MSC’s ecolabel, a seal that assures consumers that the seafood was not overfished or harvested in a way that harms the ocean.
The designation allows the industry to market itself as sustainably run and to differentiate itself from the Canadian lobster fishery, said John Hathaway, president of Shucks Maine Lobster, a processing company in Richmond.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Boston.com