The Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Board of Trustees has unanimously approved the new version of its Fisheries Standard, after a four-year review, 1,000 stakeholders and significant scientific research.

539 fisheries are currently certified to the Standard, representing 16% of wild marine catch, making it the largest sustainable fishing programme in the world.  The influence of the MSC Fisheries Standard extends far beyond this, with its requirements used globally as a framework for those seeking to improve ocean sustainability.

The review involved the most extensive consultation ever undertaken by the organisation – including fisheries, scientists, assessors, environmental NGOs and industry representatives.  It addressed some of the most difficult issues facing the ocean, including protecting marine biodiversity, incentivising stronger ocean governance, whilst providing tools to expand accessibility of the MSC’s market-based sustainability programme to small-scale and emerging market fisheries.

The significant improvements approved by the Board will ensure that MSC-certified fisheries continue to be recognised as world leaders in sustainability, helping to drive progress towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including the target of ending overfishing. As the new Standard is rolled out and implementation begins, MSC experts will be making available a full programme of training and guidance to support fisheries and assessors apply the new requirements.

In a statement issued by the MSC’s Board of Trustees on Friday 24th June 2022, its Chairman, Dr Werner Kiene, said: “We would like to thank all of those who have contributed to this review – in particular, the MSC’s scientists who led this extensive, complex review with great dedication and expertise, as well members of our governance bodies from all parts of the world, who have generously given their time and knowledge to shape this new Standard. We recognise the value of this exceptional work.  The Board is keenly aware of the importance of the MSC Fisheries Standard, and its role in driving change in our ocean. While there are sometimes competing views of what should be in the Standard and where the bar is set, we strongly believe that this new version strikes the right balance between setting a high ambition for sustainability with the need to make sure that the requirements are practical for the best performing fisheries around the world to implement over appropriate transition timelines.”

 

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC said: “I am profoundly grateful for the enormous amount of stakeholder engagement and input over four years and for the dedication and hard work undertaken by MSC’s Governance Bodies that has enable MSC’s Board of Trustees to approve the new standard.  On the eve of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon the world’s attention is increasingly focusing on the critical need to ensure our ocean resources are managed sustainably, for this and future generations. MSC’s new Fisheries Standard will deliver real benefits and contribute to accelerating the delivery of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through the continued engagement and support of our partners. This is good news for the ocean, fishers and consumers.”

The improvements include:

• A new approach to protect endangered, threatened or protected species. Fisheries will be expected to minimise their impacts on such species to help their population recover.
• A Fins Naturally Attached policy will be mandatory in all fisheries that retain sharks. These measures will strengthen the existing ban on shark-finning in MSC-certified fisheries.
• Some existing requirements have been stream-lined with the objective of making assessments more efficient and improvements in methods to aid data-limited fisheries, will improve accessibility.
• New measures for multi-jurisdictional fisheries, managed by RFMOs, to secure credible, robust harvest strategies.
• New evidence requirements will ensure that fisheries – especially those operating on the high seas with unwanted catch that includes, for example, marine birds – will have to produce stronger proof of how they are managing their impacts.

The new version of the Standard will be published in October 2022. Fisheries entering assessment for the first time will apply the new Standard from May 2023.  While certified fisheries have a maximum of six years – a reduction of the previous transition time – to adjust their practises to meet the new Standard

 

DEFRA have published details of the new Seasonal Worker visa route that will allow the recruitment of a limited number of temporary migrants for specific seasonal roles in the horticulture and poultry sectors.

The new scheme will make 2,000 Seasonal Worker visas available to the poultry sector and will run in a similar manner to last years temporary visa scheme which was introduced specifically for 5,500 poultry workers in the lead up to Christmas 2021. However, this year the costs, including the visa, travel, accommodation etc will largely be borne by the workers themselves. But Defra have stressed that employees should consider offering financial assistance, if necessary, for example when the overall costs of entering under the scheme outweigh the potential earnings.

The cost of a visa will be set at £259, and Defra are hoping that they will run for a period of 3 months from the beginning of October to the end of December 2022.

A tender process is to be initiated to appoint 2 operators who once appointed will remain in place for the full 3-year term. Each operator will be allocated 1000 visa ‘slots’ and will charge each business an administration fee as well as a fixed fee per worker that they place with them.

Defra have issued several documents which set out the background to the visa route, and how potential operators can apply for a licence to act as sponsor of seasonal worker visas. There is an application form for potential operators to complete, along with a form to note any commercially sensitive information within the application. They can be accessed here.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have invested £1.6m into a new Food Safety Network, hosted by the Quadram Institute. The Network will serve as an innovation hub to coordinate and fund cross-sectoral research and training activities that address current and emerging challenges.

Foodborne disease is a major cause of illness in the UK which imposes a significant burden on both infected individuals and the economy. It’s estimated that there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness a year, costing around £9 billion (with £6 billion from unknown causes). The microbes which cause the greatest economic impact are Campylobacter and Salmonella with Pseudomonas accounting for 25% of food spoilage.

The network will ensure that the FSA is well-placed to tackle the challenges of foodborne illnesses by bringing together experts from government, industry and academia to address current and emerging issues of food safety in the UK. It also directly aligns with the core objectives of the FSA Strategy 2022-2027 to ensure food is safe and food is what it says it is.

The Network’s objectives are to:

• assemble a community of UK food producers, food policy makers and scientific researchers who collectively can take robust actions toward improving food safety
• identify areas of research need and opportunity that, in the view of food stakeholders and network members, will have meaningful impacts on UK food safety
• coordinate new collaborative research activities that will promote the application of science towards the food safety challenges identified by our food system community
• host training promoting skills development, interoperability and relationship-building between our food system community
• translate the knowledge generated within the Network to food safety stakeholders, and to upcycle existing information and technologies relevant to food safety that have not yet been applied more broadly

You can read more here

 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have invested £1.6m into a new Food Safety Network, hosted by the Quadram Institute. The Network will serve as an innovation hub to coordinate and fund cross-sectoral research and training activities that address current and emerging challenges.

Foodborne disease is a major cause of illness in the UK which imposes a significant burden on both infected individuals and the economy. It’s estimated that there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness a year, costing around £9 billion (with £6 billion from unknown causes). The microbes which cause the greatest economic impact are Campylobacter and Salmonella with Pseudomonas accounting for 25% of food spoilage.

The network will ensure that the FSA is well-placed to tackle the challenges of foodborne illnesses by bringing together experts from government, industry and academia to address current and emerging issues of food safety in the UK. It also directly aligns with the core objectives of the FSA Strategy 2022-2027 to ensure food is safe and food is what it says it is.

The Network’s objectives are to:

• assemble a community of UK food producers, food policy makers and scientific researchers who collectively can take robust actions toward improving food safety
• identify areas of research need and opportunity that, in the view of food stakeholders and network members, will have meaningful impacts on UK food safety
• coordinate new collaborative research activities that will promote the application of science towards the food safety challenges identified by our food system community
• host training promoting skills development, interoperability and relationship-building between our food system community
• translate the knowledge generated within the Network to food safety stakeholders, and to upcycle existing information and technologies relevant to food safety that have not yet been applied more broadly

You can read more here

 

The Prime Minister has committed to a package of support to help countries hit the hardest by rising global food costs and shortages of fertiliser, including many commonwealth states.

Driven by the war in Ukraine, global food prices have hit a 50-year high. More than 275 million people worldwide were already facing acute hunger at the start of 2022 – according to the UN that is expected to increase by 47 million people if the conflict continues, with the steepest rises in sub-Saharan Africa. Price spikes are also pushing households into crippling poverty, with a further 1.4 million expected to be driven below the poverty line in Kenya, for example, as a result of the global crisis.

The Prime Minister is pledging £372 million in aid today to provide immediate and longer-term relief to countries on the frontline of this crisis.

The UK is also working with allies to break Russia’s immoral blockade of Ukraine’s grain exports and address global supply issues. The Prime Minister will commit to look at the UK’s own demands on land and use of biofuel ahead of the G7 – globally, the use of grain for biofuel is contributing to reduced availability and increased costs for human consumption.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

While Vladimir Putin continues his futile and unprovoked war in Ukraine and cravenly blockades millions of tonnes of grain, the world’s poorest people are inching closer to starvation.

The Government has put in place an unprecedented package of support to help the most vulnerable households in the UK deal with the rising cost of living.

But it is also right that we step up to support countries on the frontlines of conflict and climate change, where an increase in the price of bread can mean the difference between a child living or dying.  From emergency food aid to reviewing our own biofuel use, the UK is playing its part to address this pernicious global crisis.

The package announced today includes:

• £130 million for the World Food Programme this financial year, to fund their lifesaving work around the world including in Commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas
• £133 million for research and development partnerships with world-leading agricultural and scientific organisations to develop and implement cutting-edge technologies to improve food security, such as new drought-resistant crop varieties.
• £52 million for UN’s global emergency response fund, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). CERF allocated $100 million (£80m) in April for an urgent response to seven countries at risk of famine.
• £37 million for the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD], to work with the private sector and governments to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.
• £17.7 million through the FCDO’s Green Growth Centre of Expertise to improve the effective use of fertiliser and increase food production in countries including Rwanda, Kenya and Ghana.
• £2 million for the Nutrition Match Fund, which matches governments’ national spending on addressing wasting – the most acute and deadly form of child malnutrition – pound-for-pound. The fund was launched last November and has already supported treatments in Commonwealth countries like Nigeria and Mozambique, and the UK is encouraging other donors to step up.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:

At least 140 million people across Africa are already suffering from food insecurity, and millions more are facing food shortages as a result of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. Putin is using food as a weapon on a global scale.

The UK’s vital funding will provide humanitarian aid to increase access to food across the worst hit African countries , and help protect millions of people at risk from a growing global food disaster.

Ukraine produces as much as half the world’s sunflower seeds, a tenth of its wheat and up to a fifth of barley and rapeseed, and many African countries import a significant proportion of their fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports is preventing the export of up to 23 million metric tonnes of grain, and the conflict will significantly impact the next harvest.

The African Development Bank claims that shortfalls in fertilizer supply mean Africa could lose a fifth of its food production in the next two harvesting seasons, worsening food insecurity in developing countries already struggling to cope with climate change, the fall-out from the pandemic and domestic conflicts.

 

Defra has announced that the UK has signed up to a global coalition which works to speed up the move towards more sustainable food production, Environment Secretary George Eustice announced on 23^rd June.

The UK will join the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition (SPG) – an international group of countries, academic and research organisations and trade bodies that aims to improve agriculture productivity in an environmentally suitable way.

The SPG Coalition was launched in 2021 at the United Nations’ Food Systems Summit and members include the USA, European Union, Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. It is also supported by a raft of academic institutions and trade bodies representing industries including grain, dairy and livestock from all over the world.

Members of the Coalition share with each other information about best practice, lessons learned and innovative evidence-based way to boost productivity in a sustainable way, and promote them at public events and on public platforms.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

“I am pleased to announce today that the UK will join the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition convened by the United States. I look forward to working with our international partners in this dialogue on innovation, science and sustainable agriculture.”