Five commercially important species, including Karikadi shrimp, have been identified for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification from Kerala in a pre-assessment conducted by the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) in collaboration with the World Wide Fund (WWF) India and other research organisations.
Under two consortiums, the process is expected to move towards full assessment under different fishery improvement programmes (FIP). “Squid, cuttlefish, octopus, and two varieties of marine shrimp are the species identified. In the pre-assessment we found some gaps in different aspects, including fishery management, and these will be addressed through the two fishery improvement programmes,” says Vinod Malayilethu, Associate Director, Marine Conservation Programme, WWF-India.
“We feel that these five species can move towards full-assessment by 2024-25 and we have started stakeholder consultations as part of the process. Fishers are cooperating since they are currently experiencing a resource crunch and this comes as a major step towards building sustainability,” says Mr Malayilethu.
