Krill might actually qualify as a Forage Fish!  So where are all the Oceana/Pew/EDF “Forage Fish” Crusaders on this one?  If ever there was an essential “forage” species, it’s an animal such askrill Krill.  But wait a minute! The intense exploitation of perhaps this only true “forage fish”, Antarctic Krill, has MSC sanctioning?
From Fish News EU: Friday January 9, 2015
“AKER BioMarine’s Antarctic krill fishery has been Marine Steardship Council (MSC) recertified, which means that its krill oil may continue carrying the council’s ecolabel.” “In order to determine the sustainability of the fishery, a team of independent scientists and auditors considered all available science and reviewed the fishery’s management practices against the MSC Fisheries Standard. Their analysis confirms that Aker BioMarine is protecting the unique environment, habitats and species living in the Southern Ocean.” Click here
          “The fishery first achieved MSC certification in June 2010. All MSC certified fisheries must be completely reassessed within five years of certification. This reassessment showed that Aker BioMarine not only continues to operate to the highest standards of environmental sustainability, it has also improved its practices and knowledge in order to better manage the fishery.”
          This AKER BioMarine Company  http://www.akerbiomarine.com/ vacuums shiploads of Krill at a time; but, they have MSC certification because according to “a team of independent scientists” (wonder if that’s the same ubiquitous and anonymous “independent” team of scientists that keeps popping up in the EDF/Oceana/CLF fishing indictments yet are never specifically named?). And this mysterious team of scientists is “protecting the unique environment, habitats and species living in the Southern Ocean”???
          You see, it appears that the AKER BioMarine Krill vacuum ships are not “clearcutting” the ocean bottom like those villainous local 70 foot draggers that have been destroying the Outerharvesting Continental Shelf habitat— for the past 120 years or so of abundant fishing—and underreporting their enormous catches and wealth.
          Besides those artisanal New England and Mid-Atlantic Cod Crises Creators have not contributed one single cent to the wealth coffers of the Marine Certification Council moguls.  More proof they need to be monitored more thoroughly with deck cameras and perhaps Viking Boot Ankle Bracelet Transmitters (VBABT) as soon as one of the Ecopreneurs starts up their VBABT manufacturing company (with NOAA Fishing Industry relief and/or S-K designated seed money “for Innovative Sustainability Enforcement Projects” (ISEPs).
          Also keep in mind that this industrial style harvesting of Krill is essentially to supply omega-3s to consumers who want the nutritional benefits of fish “…without all the fishy taste”.  Plus, by eliminating the fishy fish you take out the pesky fishy middlemen who catch the fishy fish (us, the fishy “fishers”).  Then there’s less competition and consumer awareness of fresh product (so Walmart can sell more frozen imported farm-raised contaminated garbage) and hey, what the hell, gobs more profit for MSC and the MSC Certified industrialists—and perhaps a bit for the “team of independent scientists”).
          All sarcasm aside (not an easy task), the sensationalistic ENGO campaigns to discredit and dismantle local fishing have a manifold function. They create an effective diversion for the huge companies who are actually depleting certain resources such as this sanctioning of the industrial exploitation of the vital Krill. They also achieve a role-reversal, painting the local independent fishermen as the greedy ocean destroyers, thus removing any impediment—and even justifying privatization and corporate ownership according to the sales pitch from the “free market environmentalists” http://perc.org/ —to the complete privatization and industrialization of the Public Trust Ocean Resource by Fishing Conglomerates, Industrial Aquaculture, and/or the Energy Industry. Nice business strategizing, huh?  It’s no wonder these champions of “environmental sustainability” have tens of billions of dollars at their disposal.
          And please don’t believe that sustainability crap from MSC for one minute. The body that sets the allowable catch on the Antarctic Krill is the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).  This Commission (probably another home for the roving “team of independent scientists”) is sanctioned and “supported” by Sanford, New Zealand, another “world class” (huge monopolistic) fishing conglomerate; but they sanction the CCAMLR’s Marine Protected Area proposals only if certain “ice-capable safety” standards are met by the other 23 vessels competing in the area (capabilities that Sanford’s vessels just happen to have—and maybe Aker’s don’t?).  Sanford is worried for the safety of their competitors—very commendable, right?
sanford
          In other words Sanford approves the MPAs as long as they are essentially the only ones (or only ones of a precious few vessels) that can fish there.  So, actually this is just another industrial free-for-all with all the subterfuge and corruption of “market based environmentalism” that is included in the package with the privatization, the ownership, the market capitalization, and the corporate control and consequent irresponsible exploitation of the world’s vital natural resources.  In this case the “forage-fish” Krill.
Sanford to back marine proposal – Click here