Dagbladet —one of Norway’s leading newspapers— recently published an article entitled Oslo Fjord collapse: full chaos. According to the article, Oslo Fjord has become so empty of fish species that only the shrimp fishery can be operated profitably and any fish landed are taken as bycatch. This bycatch includes protected coastal cod, and the red-listed, critically endangered spiny dogfish.
A local fisheries association, Fiskarlaget Sør, cites the fact that the shrimp trawl fishery in Oslo fjord is MSC certified as proof of its sustainability. However, when DNV, the Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) for the MSC-certified Oslo Fjord shrimp fishery was asked to clarify whether the Norway Skagerrak and the Norwegian Deep Cold Water Prawn Fishery includes Oslo Fjord, the CAB indicated that it did “although that is not where the primary fishing takes place”. The Directorate of Fisheries provided reports for the fishery showing shrimp catches that included both the inner and the outer Oslo fjord. Dagbladet concluded that “with or without intent, DNV has certified trawling throughout the Oslo Fjord”.
The article goes on to state that DNV is on a “collision course” with Norway’s Institute of Marine Research (IMR), which has noted the “ravages” caused by bottom trawling, recommends creating large, trawl-free protected areas in Oslo Fjord. Guldborg Søvik, a biologist at the IMR who is concerned about trawling is quoted as saying, “The fact that the shrimp fishery is certified by MSC / DNV does not mean that the shrimp stock is in very good condition.” Fredrik Myhre of WWF Norway noted that the shrimp fishers themselves acknowledged underreporting spiny dogfish bycatch, which he described as being a serious environmental crime. A statement from Rasmuss Hansson, a Norwegian biologist and member of the Green Party closed the article saying, “It may well be that DNV follows the MSC criteria, but for me it is difficult to see how to environmentally certify trawling in an ecosystem that we know is about to collapse.”
Make Stewardship Count concurs.
