Friday, February 26, 2010

Video: The Marine Stewardship Council

The BBC has been doing a series profiling social entrepreneurs. The third installment of the series produced by the show Alvin's Guide to Good Business airs this weekend.

This installment features the business the Marine Stewardship Council. The council works to keep fishing sustainable for the future. Making sure the world's does not run out of it's supply of fish will help thousands of commercial fisherman keep their jobs, and keep fish at the dinner tables for millions of people around the world.

1 comment:

Ekwhy said...

Yes, it is effectively true that the MSC work to keep fish species for future and it plays a great role in terms of employment as well. If we take Argentina as an example, they are going through a very difficult period in the fishery sector especially hake fish industry. Research has shown that Hake fish will soon disappear from Argentinean Sea. There are some hake seafood companies who are closing their doors and many people are losing their jobs. In 2007, a company which is specialized in hake sales had shut down his doors and this processing plant employed 270 workers.
On the other hand, the need for salary raise in order to pay off for the loss of purchasing power of workers has caused conflicts. However, companies have requested for financial support from the authorities in order to be able to raise the salary of workers. Low availability of raw material in the hake sector has also been a major factor and due to the crisis, prices are increasing tremendously.
Companies also are facing major problems such as rise in fuel cost, transportation cost for exportation, higher cost for fishing permit and delays in tax returns. Argentinean seafood companies especially in hake industry are facing so difficulties to cope that they had to move to other cities to save cost and sell some of their ships.
In order to save the jobs of the people working in the hake industry, the Government must implement severe actions for the recovery of hake and establish a sustainable model with clear rules but also to reduce unemployment. All fishing companies need to be MSC awarded because this will certify that sustainable practices have been maintained. The capture of hake must be reduced. According to the latest fishery report from Globefish, the fishing quotas has dropped down again from 340,000tonnes in 2007 to 270,000tonnes in 2008 and this TAC will be kept for the five coming years.
The Wildlife Foundation said that added-value for the product, with more industrial processing, should also increase to lessen the impact on smaller fishing operation, a sector that employs some 12,000 people in Argentina.

http://www.seawork.com.na/sustainability.html

source: www.globefish.org/