The Responsible Fishing Scheme

The Responsible Fishing Scheme was developed to raise standards in the catching sector. There are more than 600 UK registered vessels actively involved with the scheme, with 418 now fully certified.

RFS is an independent, audited assessment of the application of good practice by a vessel skipper and crew in their fishing operations, based on a Publicly Available Specification from the British Standards Institution (BSi).

It covers four key areas, namely:

• Fishing practices
• Vessel criteria
• Crew competence
• Environmental considerations

Responsible fishing practices
The fishing industry in the UK has undergone huge change in recent years. For a fishery to demonstrate responsible fishing practices it must adhere to management guidelines and comply with the minimum management or legal requirements governing a particular fishery.

Benefits for all
The Responsible Fishing Scheme benefits the whole supply chain and ensures a quality product reaches the consumer.

For fishermen
The scheme enables fishing vessels to prove their responsibility to the onward supply chain, show their ability to follow good practice and allows them to differentiate themselves and their catch. Skippers can demonstrate that their catch has been sourced by a vessel which complies with current good practice and membership of the scheme satisfies any requirement for certification to be a condition of supply.

For processors
Confidence in a seafood supplier is paramount for the processing sector. Fishermen in the Responsible Fishing Scheme are a step ahead of the competition and should be an obvious choice for processors who want to ensure the seafood they buy is caught responsibly by fishermen who care about the environment. This can assist with quality assurance requirements and in the demonstration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

For the retail sector
Retail customers want quality produce, but increasingly they also want to 'feel good' about the fish they eat and be assured that it comes from sustainable sources. By sourcing seafood from a vessel certified through the Responsible Fishing Scheme, customers get exactly want they want. By getting behind the scheme retailers can demonstrate responsibility and at the same time show support for one of the UK's core industries.

For the foodservice sector
When it comes to eating out, customers want good quality seafood and that has been caught responsibly.

For more information visit http://rfs.seafish.org/

This link to the RFS website contains the following headings which you may also find of great interest.

• How to get involved
• What`s new
• Benefits for members
• Certified Vessels
• All vessels engaged with the scheme
• Downloads - Useful documents to help you with crew training, Hygiene and Storage and Policy Documentation
• A series of Good Practice guides with an additional link to Responsible sourcing guides.   

RFS Newsletters

• February 2011
• November 2011
• March 2012

For any addition information please contact:

Jim Hyam
e: j_hyam@seafish.co.uk
t: 07876 035749

or

Mick Bacon
e: m_bacon@seafish.co.uk
t: 07976 222936