SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton July 24, 2013 — The National Park Service has withdrawn its seafood sustainability guidelines for its vendors that relied solely on Monterey Bay Aquarium or the Marine Stewardship Council for a definition of ‘sustainability.’
Kathy Kupper, a spokesperson for the National Park Service, told Seafood source that the agency is “going to pull back and meet with NOAA” to discuss the issue.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski blasted the Park service for ignoring federal guidelines saying “the government does not endorse any particular labeling or documentation program over another.”
Also, the seafood coalition, broadly representing most US seafood harvesters and processors, asked the Park service why they rejected using NOAA’s Fishwatch program to determine sustainability.
Next week the Park Service is meeting with NOAA to discuss how to broaden its guidelines to include a range of seafood sustainability measures.
“The guideline was never meant to exclude anyone. It has been brought to our attention that there are other [sustainable seafood guidelines] and we are looking at that now,” Kupper said.
This is a small step in the effort to recognize seafood sustainability is a public purpose, not just the province of private groups who have a financial interest in being ‘gate keepers.’
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.