Seabob trawl fishery to be assessed for compliance with international sustainability standards
The Guyana seabob trawl fishery will be assessed to ensure it is in compliance with the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Fisheries Standard for well-managed and sustainable fisheries.
According to an advertisement that was published two Thursdays ago in the Guyana Chronicle, the Conformity Assessment Body, Tún, will travel to Guyana to assess the operations of the seabob trawler fisheries.
The ad explained that the assessment team will be in Georgetown during the period October 29th to November 1st. The assessment will be done through the evaluation of relevant documents, the holding of stakeholder meetings and a visit to the fishery.
“A key purpose of the site visit is to collect information and to speak to stakeholders with an interest in the fishery. For those components of the assessment where there is limited information or data, Tún will be using a stakeholder-driven, qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis during the site visit (so-called Risk Based Framework or RBF),” the ad explained.
It noted that in order for them to achieve a “robust outcome” from the consultative process, the body will rely heavily on the participation of a broad range of stakeholders who have a balanced knowledge of the fishery. As a result, stakeholders with experience or knowledge of the local seabob trawl fishery industry are encouraged to participate in the meetings and to provide information considered relevant to the assessment of the fishery.
Stakeholders that are willing to meet with members of the assessment team in person or remotely are asked to send their requests to tun@tun.is, by 1 pm on October 18, indicating their name and contact details, their association with the assessed fishery and the issues they wish to discuss.
Those wishing to comment on the proposed assessment methods (RBF) are expected to submit such by 1 pm on October 20th.
Information regarding the assessment of the industry is available for review on MSC’s website, which can be accessed at: fisheries.msc.org/en/fisheries/guyana-seabob@@assessments