Tallink Grupp says its shuttle ships Megastar and Star were awarded the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Chain of Custody certificate at the end of 2017 for providing sustainably sourced seafood onboard its vessels. Tallink’s vessels are the first vessels in the world to hold this certificate.
Five other ships in the Group, operating under the Silja Line brand, were awarded the certificate already in September 2017 and the two shuttles operating on the Tallinn-Helsinki route under the Tallink brand were audited by an independent verification body in November and awarded the certificate at the end of 2017.
The certificate is an assurance that the seven ships within Tallink Grupp covered by the certificate now offer their customers only sustainable and traceable MSC certified shrimp and herring.
„The certificate is valuable recognition for our strive towards reducing the impact our everyday activities may have on the environment around us,“ Katri Link, Communications Director of Tallink Grupp said. „The MSC certificate is the most widely recognised international standard for sustainably caught seafood, so achieving this standard is an important milestone for us in our evironmentally friendly activities and goals. We hope to extend the certificate to all our Group ships in the future,“ added Link.
“We hope that Tallink’s achievement will draw more attention to the important subject of using our marine resources sustainably, and will also inspire other companies and consumers to think more about where the seafood on our table comes from,“ said Minna Epps, MSC Baltic Sea Regional Programme Director. In order for MSC to achieve its mission, it is important that more companies and consumers chose MSC-labelled seafood,“ Epps concluded.
The MSC certificate has been awarded to Tallink Grupp ships Baltic Princess, Galaxy, Silja Symphony, Silja Serenade, Silja Europa, Star and Megastar.
Internationally the MSC Chain of Custody certificate has been issued to 3,200 companies in 88 countries. A total of 332 fisheries in 36 countries have been issued the MSC certificate.
AS Tallink Grupp is the leading passenger and cargo transportation service provider in the Northern region of the Baltic Sea. The company owns 14 vessels and operates under the brands of Tallink and Silja Line on 6 different routes. AS Tallink Grupp employs over 7,000 people in the region and over 9.7 million passengers travelled on its ferries in 2017. AS Tallink Grupp is listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange.
Tallink Silja Oy is part of AS Tallink Grupp. The company’s ships operate under the Tallink brand from Helsinki to Tallinn and under the Silja Line brand from Helsinki and Turku to Stockholm via Åland. Tallink Silja Oy has offices in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere and a subsidiary, Sally Ab, in Mariehamn. The company employs about 500 people ashore and about 1,000 at sea.
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organisation. Its vision is for the world’s oceans to be teeming with life, and seafood supplies safeguarded for this and future generations. Its ecolabel and certification program recognises and rewards sustainable fishing practices and is helping create a more sustainable seafood market.
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent nature conservation organisations. The WWF global network is active in more than 100 countries and has over 5 million supporters. The WWF mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. The WWF operates in all sectors of nature conservation.