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09/03/2009

The fishing trawler FMS Susanne is not a very pleasant place for fish -- or humans. With a crew of only six, the captain and his seamen rarely get a chance to sleep, and their quarters are only slightly larger than the bunk beds they hold. Every four or five hours, the alarm clock goes off, and they lift the net.

Saithe, a relative of cod, is brought on board from the stern in nets bulging like balloons. The fish flop onto the deck and whiz down a hatch directly into the processing equipment made up of a slaughtering machine, a conveyor belt and slides. Fresh from the catch, the fish are gutted, sorted according to size and placed on ice. The Susanne can store a good 100 tons in one outing, and it can bring in that amount within just a few days.

The ship is 40 meters (130 feet) long and has one of the largest catch capacities in the North Sea, with an official annual quota of 2,300 tons of saithe. More importantly, it has proven that it can fish in a way that both conserves fish stocks and is environmentally friendly.

The fact that those things are so uncommon in the North Sea makes it noteworthy. The North Sea used to be one of the most abundant fishing seas in the world, but now it stands out for the fact that it has been exploited in a particularly ruthless way. Plaice fishers plow the seabed with heavy metal gear and leave underwater lunar landscapes in their wake. And the fishermen dump tons of fish overboard like garbage when they don't have a commercial license for them.

As a result, the everyday fish of yesterday has become the rarity today. Herring has been on the verge of extinction a number of times and recovered only after strict catch bans have been imposed. Now cod are scarce, so what used to be standard fare in the cuisine of northern Germany has now become an expensive delicacy.

Continuing to pursue dwindling fish stocks will lead to the extinction of endangered species. Fishing fleets from eight countries -- from France to Norway -- are competing for ever-shrinking stocks. And not many of them seem overly concerned with environmental awareness and voluntary self-restraint.

Eco-Friendly Fishing

But not all of them are this way. Kutterfisch-Zentrale is based in Cuxhaven, a town located right where the Elbe River flows into the North Sea. The company, which owns the Susanne and 11 other trawlers, is the first and only German fishing company to receive a sustainable seafood eco-label for its saithe-fishing practices from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a nonprofit organization based in London. The company's products -- fresh and frozen fish fillets -- can now be marketed with an oval MSC label that shows a checkmark and a fish symbol on a blue background. The label is meant to assure eco-conscious customers that they are not playing a role in exploiting the seas.

The MSC was founded in 1997 as part of a joint initiative of the environmental-protection organization WWF and the food giant Unilever. At the time, the latter was the parent company of Langnese-Iglo, a major German manufacturer of frozen foods. Iglo was responsible for inventing fish sticks 50 years ago and is one of the leading frozen fish brands in Germany.

Iglo's attempt to go green initially aroused suspicion, but it has proved to be a successful example of the organized conservation of fish stocks. In fact, estimates now hold that over 10 percent of the world's population recognizes the MSC label, and the organization has certified about 4 percent of the global fish catch.

The guidelines for earning the MSC distinction are very strict. Companies vying for the seal of approval must meet several requirements, such as staying away from fishing areas with overfished or at-risk stocks, working with large-mesh nets that let smaller and younger fish pass through, using seabed-friendly bottom trawls and documenting their operations in minute detail.

Good for the Environment, Smart for Business

Kutterfisch applied for the MSC eco-label for saithe-fishing in 2005. At first, the company didn't think it would be a very involved or difficult process. For example, since the company wanted large fish for processing reasons, its fleet was already using nets with very large mesh. In reality, though, the certification process took three years and cost the company more than €90,000 ($129,000).

Kai Arne Schmidt, 44, was the driving force behind the company's environmental initiative. He is the youngest of the company's three managers and, with 26 years of service, he is also the most senior of the three.

"It's the right way," he says. "And if we don't do it, who will?"

But Kutterfisch is not a place for tree huggers with fantasies about saving the environment. Behind the quaint corporate logo is one of Germany's largest processors of fish from the North Sea. The company catches and sells 10,800 tons of saithe per year, over two-thirds of the German quota. The company has also applied for MSC certificates for its cod-, herring- and flounder-fishing operations.

Schmidt wants to prove that what would seem like a contradiction to many -- that fishing on a large scale while conserving stocks can actually work. And it certainly drives the company's business strategy. "Over the long term," he says, "only companies that meet these standards will be viable."

Pressure from the consumer side is also increasing. For example, starting in 2012, Dutch retailers are considering selling only MSC-certified North Sea seafood.

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• Part 1: North Sea Fishermen Labor to Save Fish -- and Jobs
• Part 2: The Price of Sustainability