Australian Marine Conservation Society, June 29 2021
By now, you will all be aware of the successful orange roughy MSC objection by AMCS and WWF. Unfortunately, the risk for the species and their habitat continue to be put at risk. In a recent press release by AMCS, they criticize the Australian government for continuing to allow a fleet of deep-sea trawlers based in New Zealand to fish for orange roughy off the Australian coast. Not only does this fishing activity put the orange roughy, a vulnerable population, at risk, but the fishing practice also destroys deep-sea coral reefs.
Also highlighted in the press release is that this fleet has been caught dumping unwanted catch, fishing illegally in protected areas, breaching international regulations, and destroying coral reefs on the high seas.
Adrian Meder, AMCS’s sustainable seafood manager says “We don’t want these habitat-wrecking boats in our waters. They should only ever return once the science is respected and every bit of still-intact coral reef is fully protected from all fishing in marine reserves, and our orange roughy fish stocks are fully recovered from historical overfishing.”
Our thoughts: It is important to note that this New Zealand fleet is MSC certified for both hoki and orange roughy. This is yet another example of fisheries being certified as sustainable by the MSC, but are putting vulnerable species and ecosystems at risk, and further highlights the need for Standard improvements by the MSC.
