France: MSC certification was suspended over Granville Bay whelk

A decision against a backdrop of global warming. The Normandy Regional Committee for Fisheries and Marine Farming (CRPMEM) and Normandie Fraîcheur Mer (NFM) jointly announced on October 28 the suspension of MSC certification for the whelk fishery in Granville Bay. "This suspension is not a questioning of the sustainable management practices implemented by the fishing companies operating in Granville Bay," Marc Delahaye, director of the Normandy CRPMEM, which led the initiative, is keen to point out. "Rather, it highlights the need to recognize the impacts of climate change on marine resources." A cold-water species, the whelk is taking the full brunt of rising summer temperatures: mortality, feeding cessation and reduced reproductive capacity. The resource is in sharp decline and the climate is "more than moribund" for the 63 whelk traps from Granville Bay. Because inflation is not helping matters. "Consumers have turned away from whelk a little," says Arnauld Manner, director of ...