On June 6, 2016 the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) opened a 60-Day
Public Consultation on the Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Fisheries Standard (Version 2.0) and Scoring Guidance for Version 2.0. ASMI accepted comments from June 6, 2016 through end of the day August 4, 2016.
Two submissions were received by ASMI as a result of the Public Consultation process. Each public comment submitted was assessed and reviewed by the RFM Fisheries Standard Committee (FSC) during a formal two-day meeting in September 2016. Each public comment along with the FSC responses and recommended actions/decisions are incorporated in the following Excel spreadsheets. Details of the FSC membership and Terms of Reference can be found on the Governance page.
World Seafood Congress – Summary of ASMI Consultations (available on request)
On December 3, 2014 the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) Opened
Public Consultation on the Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Conformance Criteria, (Version 1.2, September 2011).
ASMI accepted comments from December 3, 2014 through end of the day February 10, 2015.
The RFM Public Comment Process
On December 3, 2014 the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) Opened Public Consultation on the Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Conformance Criteria, (Version 1.2, September 2011). ASMI accepted comments from December 3, 2014 through to the end of the day on February 10, 2015.
Four submissions were received by ASMI as a result of the Public Consultation Process. These submissions were in the format of letters with numerous comments within each.
The Conformance Criteria Committee responses and their recommended actions and decisions to date are incorporated within the following Excel spreadsheet:
RFM Conformance Criteria Committee response to public comments.
The RFM Comments Review Process
To process the comments in a logical manner, each of the points made in each letter were transferred to an excel spreadsheet and uniquely numbered. This spreadsheet is composed of a set of tabs, one for each submission letter, which describes the detail and classification of each comment received.
Each comment was then reviewed by the RFM Conformance Criteria Committee at a formal two-day meeting in May 2015.
Comment types were categorized as follows:
- CC Wording
- Governance
- Certification
- Scoring
- Suggestions for inclusion
The Conformance Criteria Committee assessed each comment and applied changes using the following classification:
- ASMI Website Update;
- V 1.3 RFM Standard (Oct 2015);
- V 1.3 RFM Scoring Guidance;
- Consideration in future Version 2 RFM Standard
The RFM Comments Action Process
As a result of this public consultation process and feedback from industry stakeholders the RFM Conformance Criteria and Scoring Documents Version 1.2 have now been subject to a minor review process from June 2015-September 2015. The RFM Conformance Criteria Committee took the opportunity to ensure that a number of the accepted comments were acted upon during this time which has resulted in the formulation of the Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Conformance Criteria, Version 1.3, which was approved by the ASMI Board on November 30, 2015.
The RFM Standard will be subject to a full review and incorporation of any major changes from December 2015 to Sept 2016. The remaining comments resulting from this consultation will be discussed and acted upon, where feasible, by their incorporation into a new enhanced Version 2 of the Alaska RFM Standard.
RFM Joint Chain of Custody Standard Public Comment Period Open – October 14, 2021 — November 12, 2021 — NOW CLOSED.
Iceland Responsible Fisheries Foundation (IRFF) and the Certified Seafood Collaborative (CSC, Alaska) on behalf of their members and their respective fishing communities, are pleased to announce that the RFM Chain of Custody Standard is now available for 30-day public and stakeholder comment period.
The present Chain of Custody Standard was drafted in the beginning of 2021. The Standard has been revised and approved by the IRFF technical committee and the CSC technical committee. It is intended for application in RFM certification programs, including those currently under development.
Instructions for the Submission of Comments
The CSC and IRFF value all stakeholder input and will take into consideration all relevant comments before releasing the final version of the RFM Chain of Custody Standard. We invite any interested party, who may wish to make a constructive and specific comment on the Standard, to do so within the period of October 14, 2021 – November 12, 2021 and in accordance with the following format and instructions.
- Access the draft RFM Chain of Custody Standard here
- Unattributed comments (without name, address and contact e-mail) will not be considered.
- Only one submission per organization should be made and must be attributable to a principal contact person that represents that organization.
- Comments cannot represent the views of more than a single organization. Comments received pertaining to the views of more than one organization will not be considered.
- Comments must specifically state the Section and clause(s) of the Joint Chain of Custody Standard of interest in order to be eligible for consideration.
- All comments can be emailed to rfm@rfmcertification.org
The IRFF and CSC technical committees will separately, but in cooperation and coordination, consider all comments based on their content and objectiveness. Individual written responses to the comments will not be provided. Instead, a summary of substantive comments received will be made publicly available in a non-attributable form.
Background information
Iceland took the initiative to develop the original version of this Standard, which was presented for public and stakeholder comment, and subsequently adopted for certification in 2011. The standard framework was used in cooperative fashion by Iceland Responsible Fisheries Management and Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management, allowing both programs to introduce minor but meaningful modifications.
This Joint Chain of Custody Standard can be used by any RFM program, either existing or currently in development, greatly enhancing its usability and providing opportunities to offer more certified products to customers. Once Certification Bodies are accredited and trained to the Standard, they will be able to perform audits for any of the participating standard owners. Audit fatigue will be reduced, and market recognition will be advanced.