Echebastar Tuna Not MSC Certified as Reassessment Validates WWF Objection, Independent Adjudication A reassessment of the Echebastar Indian Ocean purse seine tuna fishery confirmed it does not meet the standards required to be certified against the Marine Stewardship Council’s criteria for a responsibly managed fishery. The report by the certifying body supports a formal objection by the WWF and a subsequent analysis of the certification by an independent adjudicator that each found issues with the original certificate issued for the Skipjack, Yellowfin and Bigeye Tuna Fishery. The heart of the issue stems from the fishery’s lack of harvest control strategies in the Indian Ocean, a requirement under MSC guidelines to be certified. Back in September, John Sackton commented the Echebastar situation “could conceivably call into question the MSC strategy of trying to certify international tuna fisheries at a time when there is very uneven performance among the different RFMOs.” For the first time in 20 years the Pacific Fishery Management Council will conduct its first assessment of Northern anchovy stocks. Scientists agree the decline in the fishery is not related to commercial fishery landings but additional data is needed to understand what is behind the lower population. “It appears that northern anchovy distribution as well as other species may have shifted both spatially and temporally out of the normal sampling area in recent years due to severe environmental changes,” the Council said. In other news Vietnamese shrimp producers are allowing Chinese buyers to essentially set market prices for their exports. Producers are finding easier market access in China for their shrimp because of less emphasis on antibiotic residues and general quality standards. Chinese buyers are are able to take advantage of their lax standards by commanding prices in a more limited market.  Meanwhile, Icicle Seafoods is proposing to move its Atlantic salmon fish farm operations out of  Port Angeles Harbor and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca by 2017 because of plans for a Navy pier. Salmon currently in the pens are maturing and scheduled to be harvested in 2016, so ideally the relocated pens would be stocked with new young salmon according to Alan Cook, Icicle’s vice president of aquaculture. Finally, lobster fishermen operating in Nova Scotia’s LFA 33 and 34 are scheduled to start fishing on November 30. This will be the first season for LFA 34 lobstermen operating as an MSC-certified fishery.