Good news for Cornish Gill Net Hake!

A small but significant change to the certification of Cornish Gill Net Hake has been made - until now, MSC Certified Cornish Hake - fish caught and landed by named Cornish vessels using gill nets, mostly based in Newlyn could only selll their fish as MSC Certified on Newlyn fish market - this has now been extended to include both Plymouth and Devon fish markets. The fleet of gill netters often split their landings between these ports in order to lessen the impact and create a glut on a single market to limited number of buyers - so good news all round!

Cornish Hake Gill Net update to Certification:

Marine Stewardship Council Certification 

Stakeholder announcement  

The client (Cornish Fish Producers Organisation Ltd) asked for the Cornish Hake fishery certificate to be extended to the first point of sale at the fish markets in Brixham, Plymouth and Newlyn.  This required a change to sections (13.3 Points of landing and 13.4 Eligibility to enter chains of custody) of the certified operation as described in the Public Certification Report on MSC.org . 

There follows a summary for the attention of stakeholders. Further detail is given in the variation request posted on MSC.org (s).    

Acoura have verified the systems for provenance and traceability of all fish (MSC certified and non-certified). The assessment team and Acoura decided to grant Cornish Fish Producers Organisation Ltd (CFPO) an extension to the MSC fishery certificate until the first point of sale at the fish markets in Brixham, Plymouth and Newlyn using the following auctioneers Plymouth PTA, Brixham BTA, Newlyn WS&S. Other first points of sale are not covered by this variation and can only buy fish from the point of landing. All supply chains beyond either of the first point of sale will require MSC chain of custody certification This change will remain effective until the end of the current certification period. At each surveillance audit Acoura will check that the systems still remain effective.   

Any further enquiries should be sent in the first instance to:  
Acoura Fisheries Department  fisheries@Acoura.com