How the Dutch Fishermen Fish Sustainably

How the Dutch Fishermen Fish Sustainably Narrator: The Crangon Fishery of the coast of Holland, some 400 fishing boats from six north European countries catch brown shrimp in the North Sea. But the fishery has been unsustainable. And fishermen here like Johan Rispens have come under attack from retailers. In response, Dutch fishermen are spearheading change to win the coveted Marine Stewardship Council, MSC eco-label. They want to prove they can fish sustainably. Will they succeed? Earth Report investigates. Pim Wisser: Fishermen are always — they're always suspected of piracy and all those kinds of thing. And having a label, an MSC label, you can prove that you are a sustainable fisherman. Narrator: Johan Rispens catches brown shrimp in the Wadden Sea. It’s part of the Crangon fishery in the North Sea. Johan Rispens: I’m now 20 years a fisherman. It’s a good feeling. Someone, who sees the nature and the liberty of your job, you must see everything. And it’s a free life. I must go in away from steering. Pim Wisser: Fishermen they feel it's -- some of them it's just a minority, but you still hear them, think an MSC label is a trick from the supermarkets, a trick from the NGOs etcetera. But you have to be opened minded about it and if you look at society, it’s a tendency in society to about rain forests, impact on nature and all these other things. So if you want to be fishermen in 10 years time, you’ll have to prove that you’re a sustainable fisherman. Johan Nooitgedagt: I represent the shrimp fishermen who are fishing shrimps in the Wadden Sea and the North Sea and I want them to have good prices, a sustainable fishery and that they are having a good life. Retailers told us that consumers want to have an MSC certificate on the fish which they are buying in the retails stores. Some people are very positive and I think they are sustainable already. Mattijs Van der Ploeg: --now the shrimps back, the harvest is there, keep fishing as good and as hard as you can. Narrator: Mattijs Van der Ploeg owns a fleet of 40 shrimp boats which sail from Holland, Germany and Britain. His fishermen catch 4 million kilos of shrimp a year. About 12-15% of all North Sea shrimp landed. Matthijs Van der Ploeg: When you take a tree from the wood, in my opinion, you have to plant minimum, one tree back into the wood and in fishery it is the same system. If we want to survive as our companies in fishing, we have to do something that we keep it sound and well and that the nature stays how it is. Fishermen can be lucky or not having luck. The shrimps are back in huge quantities and four years ago there was nothing. Narrator: While there are no legal limits on fishing for brown shrimp in the Crangon fishery, the way it is caught does have negative consequences for other marine life. Kees Lankester: Shrimp are not easily over-fished but there is a big other problem with shrimp fisheries which is by-catch and discards. All the life that is caught with the shrimp and then is thrown overboard and not used at all, which a great pity. Narrator: Kees Lankester is part of a group that includes representatives of the shrimp fishing industry and environmental groups. They are trying to get the brown shrimp fisheries certified as sustainable by the MSC. Kees Lankester: The MSC means the Marine Stewardship Council and it means for a fishery that you will be patted on the back that you are a good fishery, in term of responsibility and sustainability. And you’re not patted on the back by yourself or your customer but you’re patted on the back by an independent party and that’s very important for the credibility. Rupert Howes: Fisheries are assessed to perhaps the highest sustainability standard anywhere in the world for fisheries by independent third party scientists. Stakeholders are engaged in the process throughout and in addition, there is a separate peer review by a separate set of scientist of all fishery assessments.