Papua New Guinea rock lobster fishery achieves MSC certification.

Papua New Guinea rock lobster fishery achieves MSC certification. Papua New Guinea’s free diving rock lobster fishers harvest their catch by hand. Their traditional, selective technique has helped their fishery to become the island nation’s first to achieve certification for sustainability. Hailing from Daru Island, the fishery is a small enterprise comprised of just seven boats, each with around six fishers onboard. The fishers dive in the Torres Strait, holding their breath or using hookahs that supply surface air via a hose. The fishery’s artisanal approach ensured it scored highly when assessed for sustainability against the MSC Fisheries Standard in late 2023. The Standard requires fisheries to ensure stocks are healthy. As the fishers hand-select each lobster, they can identify and leave enough mature lobsters to replenish the stock. The Standard also requires that fisheries have minimal impacts on the surrounding environment. Again, hand harvesting is effective here as it ...