Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) said Monday the first hake fishery in the United Kingdom achieved MSC certification and can now carry the eco-label.
The popular Cornish hake stock was slightly depleted in the late 1990s, but recovered to nearly double their low point due to sacrifices by fishermen and a new management plan set up in 2001. The fishery uses nets with larger mesh size than is legally required so that it traps only larger hake and smaller juveniles can swim free and reproduce.
The Cornish fishery consists of a fleet of 15 boats catching hake in the Celtic Sea to the west of the UK mainland and south of Ireland.
