The International Agricultural Organization has announced the start of monitoring of the MSC Centolla certification and has made the preliminary report of the Patagonian Scallop available for public comments from interested parties.

The crab and scallop fisheries are under a MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification review process convened by OIA (Organización Internacional Agropecuaria) through which interested parties with complaints, observations and unknown relevant information may send their comments to be included in the final report.

Spider crab

OIA announced that the annual monitoring process for the Centolla fishery, Central Patagonian stock in the Argentinean Sea has begun. The MSC Surveillance Announcement has been published on the MSC website, in which all interested parties are invited to send their comments on different aspects of the fishery.

The items on which comments have been invited are: client group performance in relation to established certification conditions; any potential or actual changes to management systems; change or additions/deletions to regulations; change of personnel in science, management or industry and their impact on the management of the fishery; potential change in scientific information, including stock assessments; any developments or changes that affect traceability and the ability to separate MSC from non-MSC products, as well as changes that affect the harmonization of overlapping fisheries and any other significant changes to the fishery.

“All comments, concerns and factual errors should be provided through the ‘MSC Template for Stakeholder Input into Surveillance Audits v1.0’ which can be downloaded at the following link: https://www.msc.org/for-business/certification-bodies/supporting-documents” informed OIA.

The evaluation team is composed of Enrique Morsan; Italo Campodónico and Edith Saa Collantes. The site visit will be conducted remotely on May 22 and 23, 2023. During the visit, the evaluation team will be available to meet with interested parties; meetings may be private if necessary.

All team members will be available to meet with stakeholders by virtual or other means to effectively communicate key issues.

When stakeholders do not wish to be interviewed, they may submit written information to the team.

For more information, please visit https://fisheries.msc.org/en/fisheries/southern-king-crab-central-patagonian-stock-traps-with-escape-rings-fishery-in-argentine-sea/@@assessments, where further details of the Unit of Assessment (UoA), announcement and next steps in the process can be found. Those interested in participating in the interviews and sending comments should send them no later than May 19, 2023 by 5:00 p.m. to the local OIA office, by phone or e-mail to pesca@oia.com.ar or cadenadecustodia@oia.com.ar.

MSC Certification of the Patagonian Scallop Fishery

Separately, OIA announced this week that the draft report on the MSC certification process for the Patagonian Scallop Fishery is now available for stakeholder comment. The report can be found on the MSC website (https://fisheries.msc.org/en/fisheries/patagonian-scallop-zygochlamys-patagonica-bottom-otter-trawl-fishery/@@assessments).

The Draft Public Comment Report (PDCR) is available for stakeholder input. The report includes the scores and weightings; the preliminary determination on whether or not to recommend certification of the applicant; the eligibility date; and the surveillance program.

Eight conditions for comment were established and an action plan is included, as OIA will only consider comments from interested parties who provided written information and must provide objective evidence in support of any claims or reported errors.

It will also be available to the stakeholder reviewers and the MSC to conduct a review of the assessment team’s responses to the stakeholder reviewers’ initial comments and to conduct Technical Oversight, respectively.

The assessment team will revise the Draft Report for Public Comment taking into account any comments received during the consultation period and create the Final Draft Report. To participate and submit comments, MSC has provided guidance and a template for stakeholders to complete:

Engage with a fishery assessment | Marine Stewardship Council (msc.org) and there will be time to participate until 5pm on June 2 this year.

Source: Revista Puerto