The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has awarded ₹37,25,740 fund to India for promoting sustainable practices in country’s fisheries sector. A statement issued by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here on Sunday said that WWF-India and CMFRI would work together to utilise the fund for developing management plans to ensure sustainability of baitfish and tuna fisheries in the Lakshadweep.
The press release said that the award gave a special reason to celebrate World Fisheries Day on November 21. The Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organisation based in London.
The council, which grants blue label certification to fisheries across the world recognising sustainable fishing practices and helps create more sustainable seafood market, awarded the fund to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-India to develop management plans for bait and tuna fishery in the country with the technical support of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, the press statement added.
WWF-India and the CMFRI will create fishery management and action plans to ensure the sustainability of both baitfish and tuna fisheries in the Lakshadweep, a region which depends on fishing for income and as a food source.
The council has also awarded fund for action plan development for octopus fisheries in Senegal, improvement action plan for stone crab fishing in Chile, stock assessment for baitfish fisheries in Indonesia and crayfish project in China.
The award is part of the MSC’s Global Fisheries Sustainability Fund (GFSF) that was established in 2015 in recognition of the difficulty that these fisheries have in reaching the MSC Standard. In 2017, a total of 43 applications from different countries were received. In India, WWF-India was one of the organisations that won funding from the GFSF.
