Atlantic lobster fisheries certified as environmentally sustainable

Several lobster fisheries in Atlantic Canada are being certified under a program that labels them as environmentally sustainable.

The Marine Stewardship Council says the trap fisheries in the Bay of Fundy, Scotian Shelf and southern Gulf of St. Lawrence lobster have been approved for certification.

That means lobsters from those fisheries in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia can bear the blue MSC eco-label, indicating that they are from a source deemed to be well-managed.

The certification comes after the fisheries underwent an independent assessment by SAI Global, which looked at the stock status, management and impacts on the marine ecosystem.

The council says they will join about 260 other fisheries around the world that have been certified.

The estimated landed value of lobster fisheries in Canada was $853 million last year, with $671 million of that amount generated by independent harvesters in the Bay of Fundy, Scotian Shelf and Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence fisheries.

The biggest market for Canadian lobsters is the United States, followed by Europe (mostly Belgium, France and the U.K.) and Asia (primarily China, Japan and South Korea).