As of December 2008 the Maine lobster fishery has been going forward with the full MSC evaluation process. A private organization, The Maine Fund for Sustainability has put up the $150,000 for the MSC evaluation. The fund is a group of people that includes Linda Bean, a Port Clyde lobster dealer, and John Hathaway, a Richmond processor. The Maine lobster industry is split over seeking Marine Stewardship Council certification. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association’s Patrice MacCarron said, “We think it is worth considering, but we are not endorsing it.” But there are lobstermen, dealers, and scientists who question the decision to grant the authority to judge the Maine lobster fishery to an entity based in London, England. The decision to consider certification was initiated by Linda Bean, a lobster dealer, and John Hathaway, a processor, in March 2008. Later that year lobster prices fell, fuel soared, and landings were declining. The Governor’s response was to establish a task force to look into ways to help Maine’s largest fishery. The Task Force, which is composed of non-industry people, sent out a request for proposals from marketing groups, and thirteen responded. The Moseley Group of Massachusetts, with offices in Westbrook, Maine, was selected to do the promotional marketing of Maine lobster. A part of the marketing plan is to get certification from the MSC. The Moseley Group costs of $108,000 will be paid for from fees collected from the Maine automobile registration (lobster)plates. However, just how certification will raise the price paid to lobstermen has not been clearly outlined by any of the parties involved in the move toward certification. The supply and demand equation isn’t enough to convince some lobstermen, who see themselves as the first to be paid but the last to adequately profit, that they will benefit financially. The MSC was a product of the Unilever Corporation, an international fishing corporation; and the World Wildlife Fund, an environmental group. In 1997 Unilever wanted its fishing operations designated as sustainable. With the World Wildlife Fund, Unilever put together an agency that could create and make that designation. That agency is the London based MSC. The MSC later became a separate entity that has sought fisheries to designate as sustainable. Since 1997 the MSC has certified 42 fisheries and rejected two. It currently has 102 fisheries in the process of being assessed. The information considered in the evaluation process comes from the companies being considered for certification, and from fisheries management agencies such as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Department of Marine Resources (DMR ). Data on stock assessments, environmental impacts, effectiveness of management, etc., are considered. The MSC does not do the actual evaluation of the information provided, that is contracted out to another entity that evaluates sustainability. Jay Lugar, MSC Fisheries Outreach Manager, whose office is in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said these evaluation agencies are not connected to the MSC, they are wholly separate entities. These evaluation agencies also hire experts to assess the various documents provided by companies and management in the evaluation process. Lugar said the evaluation of Maine lobster will be done by Moody Marine LTD of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Certification would take about one year. If certified, an annual audit and recertification in five years would also be required. Depending on what the evaluation concludes the agency could ask that a fishery do some things differently or ask for additional information, said Lugar. Commissioner George Lapointe, said it would depend on what it was they were referring to and whether it was appropriate or not. If it were, Lapointe said, “it would have to go through the legislature. None of it gets around our need for a public process in the state of Maine.” The MSC depends on donations from international foundations, many of which are located in the U.S., for 75 percent of its budget. The balance comes from companies that have been licensed to use the MSC logo labels on their seafood. Shucks company founder and Richmond lobster processor John Hathaway, said “some processsors want certification for marketing purposes. They want it to be able to retain a position in changing markets that want sustainably harvested seafood.” Maine DMR scientist Carl Wilson said, “from a biologist’s point of view it is not a bad thing. Tracing landings, monitoring, and habitat concerns are what we are interested in. If you go through the list of what they evaluate there is no novel research," he said. The role of Wal-Mart in the sustainability debate has been prominent, influential, and surprising to some lobstermen. Lobster is considered a high end food, while Wal-Mart promotes itself as a low end retailer. Some see Wal-Mart’s interest as an indication of coming market demand changes. But for others the interest of the world’s largest retailer in being labeled a purveyor of sustainably fished seafood may have more to do with its planned position in international markets. Maintaining a supply for the long term would be a part of a marketing plan for company this big. Walmart is known to use its buying power in forcing down supplier prices to lower retail prices. How that might play out is not clear, but some see it as not likely to raise prices paid to lobstermen. Lugar said the Marine Stewardship Council has a commitment from Wal-Mart. They want 100 percent of their seafood sourced from MSC suppliers. “Having the world’s largest retailer using MSC certification is significant to the MSC,” Lugar said. Lobster dealer and New England Fisheries Management Council member Dana Rice said his concern was that once the sticker (MSC label) is on, it can also be pulled. “My overall worry,” he said, “is that this MSC route will throw the industry under the bus, and most lobstermen will not benefit. Some processors may benefit, but no one else.” Hathaway said, “setting Maine lobster apart, through certification, could open new markets. Consumers want sustainable seafood. We could lose markets without certification.” He said the fund had a pre-assessment done to see if any red flags would be raised, there were none. Of the 13 consulting firm candidates selected, The Moseley Group was selected. The task force decision was unanimous. “Most of the other candidates had general approaches that either suggested raising profits by changing harvesting regulations, or increasing demand through more advertising.” said task force member Phil Conkling. A few suggested doing both. But Moseley, while strong on the demand side, had also had experience with growers of cranberries. This client was a co-op of 5,000 growers. Another Moseley client was a Columbian coffee growers' cooperative. In addition, they had a lobster industry informed employee, Kristen Bailey, who had been the executive director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, said Conkling. The other 12 candidates planned to hire a sub-contractor with lobster experience. Moseley spokesperson, Kristen Bailey, said they were asked by the task force to look at the business of lobster. One of the three things they looked at was the market demands which the lobster industry sells into. That included MSC certification, and other like certification programs within National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Bailey said some Alaska fisheries are MSC certified. But, Alaska has also set up its own certification program. Alaska was doing something like this certification 50 years ago. “The situation has changed,” said Bailey, “About five years ago. lobstermen were OK with the price. But recently the MLA asked the state for an outside perspective.” As far as the importance of MSC certification in the current promotional scheme, she said, “I don’t know what importance” to place on it. Conkling said, “If there was a way to get a more regional certification, and be governed by a local body, that would be good. But the big question is, whether the locally certified brand would be be recognized in Europe.” In the past a lot of Maine lobster went Europe. Now a lot of Maine lobster goes to Canada and leaves for Europe as Canadian lobster. |
