A fishery in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland has become the first trawl-caught langoustine fishery in the world to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification as a sustainable and well-managed fishery.

Through a rigorous, independent assessment process, certification of the Stornoway Western Isles Langoustine Fishery took 12 months to achieve, supported and financially sponsored by Young’s Seafood. This is the first time that a European seafood processor has sponsored an individual fishery in the MSC process.

Yvonne Adam, marketing director of Young’s Seafood, said:

“The Stornoway fleet has worked tirelessly with us to achieve this highly important certification and I’m delighted that the fruits of our joint labour have been rewarded. Langoustine is already the UK’s most valuable fishery catch and key fisheries like Stornoway need to demonstrate their sustainability not just because it is the right thing to do but in order to properly compete in today’s market.”

The event was celebrated this week (14 April) in Stornoway when Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead MSP, congratulated Young’s and local skippers on their joint achievement.

Richard Lochhead, said:

“I am delighted that the Stornoway Western Isles Langoustine Fishery has achieved this gold standard of sustainability. I want to congratulate warmly everyone involved in securing this fantastic achievement.

"This is a timely boost for our Western Isles fishing communities in these difficult economic times and it gives everyone concrete proof that when they are choosing Stornoway langoustines, they are buying a top-quality product from the most sustainable source possible.”

Iain Murray, skipper of the Comrade, who together with Murdo Macdonald of the Sharon Rose, has played a key role in the MSC certification process, commented:
“Coming from a family that has been involved in prawn fishing here since the early 60s, I have a keen interest in creating an environment for low impact, sustainable fishing. Achieving MSC certification has therefore been close to my heart and I’m delighted that the efforts of both the fishermen and Young’s have been rewarded. Stornoway langoustines are the best in the world and this accolade gives us another feather in our cap.”

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC, added: “Young’s and the Stornoway fleet have shown how companies in the supply chain can work in partnership with fisheries to achieve MSC certification and also that MSC assessments can be completed within 12 months. I offer my congratulations to the Stornoway Western Isles Langoustine Fishery and to Young’s for this successful approach and excellent outcome.”

Langoustine (Nephrops norvegicus) is a member of the lobster family. The tails are either breaded and turned into scampi or sold whole for the export or restaurant trade. This month Young’s will launch a brand new Whole Stornoway Langoustine product for export markets, the first to be badged with the MSC logo.

Yvonne Adam added: “Young’s invented scampi over 60 years ago, we are still the UK’s biggest langoustine buyer and our investment of over £1m in the Stornoway fishery to date has included pioneering traceability technology which contributed significantly to the achievement of MSC status. This certification is another bonus in terms of our marketing for Stornoway langoustine, both at home and abroad.”

Young’s buys around £2.5m of langoustine from The Stornoway Western Isles Langoustine Fishery per annum.

The Marine Stewardship Council certification process is based on an independent accredited assessment of the fishery against a rigorous sustainability standard. Independent and accredited certifiers, Moody Marine Ltd assessed the stock levels of the langoustines, the fishery’s environmental impact and how it is managed. Following a peer and stakeholder review, the fishery has now been certified as sustainable.

Notes for editors

Young’s Seafood, based in Grimsby, is Britain’s leading fish brand and most famous name in seafood with a turnover of more than £300m a year and a heritage that spans some 200 years. Part of Foodvest, a £1.1bn European seafood and frozen food business, Young’s is a top 25 grocery brand and is enjoying sales growth of around 20% a year. Its products range from traditional family meals such as potato topped pies, scampi and the Chip Shop range of battered fish to natural fish fillets, prawns and quality smoked salmon. The company employs around 1600 people in the UK.

Young’s is a pioneer in responsibly sourced seafood and a UK market leader in products made using sustainably-sourced fish certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Its ‘Fish for Life’ approach to responsible sourcing has helped Young’s win a number of important awards, including the Seafish Award for Outstanding Achievement, a Business in the Community (BITC) ‘Big Tick’ and a Major Commendation in the Business Commitment to the Environment Awards.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organisation that was set up in 1997 to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. The MSC runs the only widely recognised environmental certification and eco-labelling program for wild capture fisheries. More than 160 fisheries are engaged in the MSC program with 41 certified, 101 under assessment and another 20 to 30 in confidential pre-assessment. Together these fisheries record annual catches of more than 5 million tonnes of seafood. Of fish for human consumption, they represent more than 42 percent of the world’s wild salmon catch, 40 percent of the world’s prime whitefish catch and 18 percent of the world’s lobster catch. Worldwide, over 2,000 seafood products resulting from the certified fisheries bear the blue MSC eco-label.

MSC is the only seafood eco-label that is consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and UN FAO guidelines for fisheries certification.

The MSC has offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Edinburgh, Berlin and Cape Town. In total, more than 160 fisheries are engaged in the MSC program with 42 certified, 103 under assessment and another 20 to 30 in confidential pre-assessment. Together these fisheries record annual catches of more than 5 million tons of seafood. Of fish for human consumption, they represent more than 42 percent of the world’s wild salmon catch, 40 percent of the world’s prime whitefish catch and 18 percent of the world’s lobster catch. Worldwide, over 2,000 seafood products resulting from the certified fisheries bear the blue MSC eco-label.