Is MSC fish sustainable?

Is MSC labeled fish sustainable?

I think not. I will never buy MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) labeled fish as long as they certify fish caught in trawl.

Please read the following articles and judge by yourself.

Quote from Analysis MSC - The Costs of Certification

It is ironic that while small-scale fisheries, particularly those that employ selective, nontrawl fishing gear and practices in multi-species, tropical fisheries, hardly benefit from MSC certification, several industrial trawl fisheries in the temperate and polar waters have been certified to MSC as sustainable, thus challenging the common perception of trawling as a highimpact, destructive fishing technique, and small-scale fishing as low-impact and sustainable.

Quote from Richard Holland, the chief executive of WWF Netherlands:

The practice of bottom trawling can cause significant and irreversible harm to benthic ecosystems and species, raising questions about its environmental sustainability.

European Parliament published a briefing note: Long-term impact of different fishing methods on the ecosystem in the Kattegat and Öresund. The report concludes that due to the ban on towed fishing gear in place since 1932, the Öresund is now 100 times more productive for demersal fish stocks than the adjacent Kattegat, which has had no such regulations.

KEY FINDINGS
» It is natural to believe that the much better performance of the cod stock in the Öresund in particular is related to the absence of trawling.
» It is unlikely that the difference is caused by more severe environmental problems in the Kattegat, as the Öresund is enclosed by the most densely human-populated and cultivated area in Scandinavia.
» A prerequisite for these effects of the differences in technical regulations is the existence of separate, rather stationary fish stocks in the two areas.
» It is suggested that fisheries management of the Kattegat has been a fiasco, and the better management of the Öresund is just incidental.
» The findings presented in this briefing paper call for much more restrictive management actions.

The new FOUNDATION FOR EU BIODIVERSITY POLICY goal is:

Fisheries: Achieve Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)22 by 2015. Achieve a population age and size distribution indicative of a healthy stock, through fisheries management with no significant adverse impacts on other stocks, species and ecosystems, in support of achieving Good Environmental Status by 2020, as required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Achieving a population age and size distribution indicative of a healthy stock is very difficult - if not impossible - with industrial trawl fisheries.
MSC have certified a lot of industrial trawl fisheries.

Is MSC sustainable? It is up to you to decide.

You can find more information on the the blog How sustainable are eco-certified fisheries?