Sustainability

Sustainability isn’t a box to tick – it’s a way of life.

No one knows better than our fishermen that sustainable seas are of the utmost importance. That’s why they engage in sustainable fishing practices, working hard to advance a fishing industry that works for everyone.

What Is Sustainability?

In most cases, an activity or industry must fulfil two requirements to be considered sustainable:

• It must be environmentally-friendly
• It must be able to continue indefinitely

Sustainability is vital for the fishing industry. If the ecosystem is not protected from overfishing and other harmful practices, fish and other marine life will deplete. If stocks deplete, the fishing industry cannot continue.

Maintaining sustainable, responsibility practices is in the best interest of our fish, our people, and our seas.

How Does SWFPA Help?

SWFPA was instrumental in creating the Conservation Credit Scheme, which rewards commitment to sustainable fishing practices. Scottish vessels are now a part of the scheme, and other countries are using it as a blueprint for their own initiatives.

To prevent overfishing, we reduce fishing and/or voluntarily close areas to ensure stock levels return to a sustainable level. For example, this is how North Sea Cod was recently certified ‘sustainable’ by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

When a stock’s status is unknown, we actively participate in projects designed to collect accurate, scientific data necessary for the MSC to determine whether that stock is currently sustainable or not. If the stock is not sustainable, we then become involved in projects to make the stock sustainable as quickly as possible.

SWFPA and our members are involved in many sustainability projects, such as Fishing for Litter. We also support and promote the Responsible Fishing Scheme. The RFS is the only global standard that audits compliance on fishing vessels, including both ethical and welfare criteria.

 

 

Want to Learn More?

Browse our site to learn more about SWFPA and how we support our members and promote sustainability in the Scottish fishing industry.