June 21, 2018 — An independent adjudicator appointed to oversee the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) re-certification of Shetland’s inshore brown crab and scallop fishery has ruled that NGO Open Seas failed to establish grounds for its objection in the first place.
Open Seas brought its objection in March, saying, “it is with some regret that we are challenging the proposed re-certification of the scallop dredge fishery in Shetland”.
“Unfortunately the possible re-certification of scallop dredging here, under its current management regime, risks green-washing an important certification standard that should represent a benchmark for sustainability,”
Adjudicator Eldon Greenberg stated the objection was dismissed in its entirety, after seeing Open Seas’ written submissions and hearing its oral evidence.
In essence, Open Seas’ objection boiled down to the fact that, in its view, the scallop fishery causes “serious or irreversible harm” to habitat structure. The NGO was unable to prove this statement though. Greenberg found that “what matters is not so much the damage wrought by the fishery in the areas fished, but the scale of damage compared to the range of habitat”.