Small Oregon family fishing business achieves MSC traceability
Sept. 16, 2008 (Otter Rock, OR) Oregons Choice Gourmet Albacore, an environmentally friendly, fisherman-owned small family seafood business, announced that their company received the coveted Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody certification on August 25, 2008. This certification ensures that Oregons Choice albacore tuna products are fully traceable through back to the MSC-certified sustainable albacore tuna fishery.
Oregons Choices specialty is the production and sale of Pacific albacore tuna. The family fishing vessel, F/V EZC, is part of the American Albacore Fishing Association, which is currently the only tuna fishery in the world to be certified as sustainable to the MSC standard. With MSCs Chain of Custody certification, Oregons Choice can now use the MSC blue eco-label on its canned albacore products.
Fisherman Herb Goblirsch, his wife Ginny, daughters Samantha and Sueanna and son-in-law Bill run the Oregons Choice business. It has grown steadily over the past 30 years, mostly by word of mouth. Early on, Capt. Herb delivered his albacore catch to the docks in Newport, OR, for sale directly to the public.
“Im proud that my method of catching albacore one at a time with hook and line is the cleanest and most sustainable way to catch tuna,” said Goblirsch.
His albacore tuna became so popular locally that other fishermen began to sell their catch to the public while he began to have his catch custom canned for wider distribution. Herb is now credited for pioneering the fisherman label/micro-cannery process in the Pacific Northwest.
“Ginny encouraged us to go through the chain of custody certification process for our company,” he commented. “It does involve added expense and paperwork for us, and we have to follow a fairly strict process to ensure chain of custody from our boat to the can.”
Ginny Goblirsch said, “We already ensure our product is the highest quality, but with the MSC certification, we can now prove to our customers that our albacore tuna is sustainably caught and they can be sure that Oregons Choice tuna is coming from the MSC-certified sustainable fishery.”
Oregons Choice MSC-certified albacore includes their most popular solid-pack pure albacore packed in its own Omega 3 juices as well as smoked and jalapeno-garlic albacore. Most of Oregons Choice customers are health food stores and individual families across the U.S.
The company carries other selected seafood products, including Oregon pink shrimp, (MSC certified), and Oregon Dungeness crab (undergoing MSC certification process).
For more information on the Marine Stewardship Council, visit www.msc.org.
For more information on Oregons Choice Gourmet Albacore, please visit www.oregonschoice.com, or call Herb or Ginny Goblirsch directly at 541-765-2193.
