Right whale deaths cost Gulf snow crab fishery its designation as sustainable
HALIFAX — The Gulf of St. Lawrence’s lucrative snow crab fishery has lost its international designation as environmentally sustainable, following the deaths of more than a dozen endangered North Atlantic right whales.
The Marine Stewardship Council announced the suspension Tuesday after an expedited audit of the fishery in the southern Gulf.
The London-based organization said the fishery in four areas — designated as areas 12, 12E, 12F and 19 — no longer meets the council’s standard when it comes to endangered, threatened and protected species.
It means crabs from those areas cannot be sold as MSC-certified or bear the telltale blue MSC label, which suggests to consumers that a species has been caught in a manner that does not harm the ecosystem or other marine life.