14 December 2017 – Compañía Pesquera Camanchaca, a major Chilean company, recently achieved Friend of the Sea’s certification for fish meal and fish oil from anchoveta and mackerel fished in the South East Pacific Ocean (FAO Area 87) only by purse seine fleets approved by Friend of the Sea.
Engraulis ringens is one of the most intensely fished species in this area. The stock is monitored by the FAO and the Subsecretary for Fishery and Aquaculture of Chile. The latter monitors the stock and sets the individual quotas each vessel can fish annually based on the outcome of the assessment. Quotas are set for industrial fleets and artisanal fleets. Each vessel has a GPS system on board that allows their localisation at any time. This system also assists fishermen in identifying the areas where fishing is forbidden.
Camanchaca, already Friend of the Sea certified for Chilean mussel (Mytilus chilensis), decided to embrace also Friend of the Sea’s standard for sustainable fish feed, fish meal, fish oil and Omega-3 which certifies that the oil originates only from fisheries in line with Friend of the Sea’s sustainable fishing requirements and that a full traceability system is in place from the fishing vessels to the manufacturing facilities and the finished product.
Founded in 1965, the company is headquartered in Santiago and operates in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe, Central America and Caribbean, and China and Southeast Asia. Camanchaca produces fish meal, frozen and canned jack mackerel, langoustine lobster, and fish oils, and it is involved in salmon, mussels and abalones farming activities.
“We are glad to see Camanchaca’s proved commitment to social and environmental sustainability extended to its fish oil and fish meal production” comments Paolo Bray, Director of Friend of the Sea.
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