Iceland announces new certification for seafood after rejection by Swiss

Iceland is expected to announce a ground breaking new environmental certification for its fish products next month after its products were rejected by Swiss retailers on the grounds that it was not from sustainable fishing activities.

The unveiling of the new process is scheduled to take place at the Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition in Reykjavik which runs from October 2-4.

The certificate is sponsored by the Icelandic government and some NGOs (non-governmental organisations) with roots in fishing and processing and it will be endorsed by an international authority, yet to be named.

Iceland has one of the most sustainable fishing industries in the world with the aggressively cutting back on cod quotas, as witnessed by last years dramatic reduction.

Yet strangely, three of the largest industries in Switzerland announced a few weeks ago that they have stopped selling wild Icelandic cod because it has not been certified as sustainable.

 This could be one reason with regards to next month's announcement about the launch of a new seafood environmental certificate scheme.

The Swiss decision may have shaken the industry. However, most Icelandic Fishing vessel companies maintain that propaganda from the World Wildlife Fund is the reason why the Swiss supermarket chains had stopped selling wild Icelandic cod.