November 26, 2012 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sets a standard for sustainable fishing that is known throughout the world and to date has certified 184 fisheries as being responsibly managed. Its blue eco-label, which appears on more than 15,000 products, is generally recognized by retailers as providing the best evidence that this seafood comes from a sustainable source.
However, there is now evidence that standards for some fisheries are being allowed to slip in order to swell the MSC’s coffers. Much of its income derives from logo license fees which are payable as a percentage of the value of the final product on supermarket shelves. Therefore it is in the MSC’s interest that more and more seafood products are so labeled.
Assessments of fisheries are carried out by teams of experts employed by independently accredited companies. An assessment against the MSC standard is a relatively lengthy and complex process where the fishery is evaluated for the management of the target stock, wider environmental impacts and the robustness of the management system.
Recently, however, several of these experts are privately expressing their concern that the MSC is allowing its standard to be diluted in order to bring lucrative tuna fisheries into its fold.
Concerns focus particularly on the element of the standard which requires that a system be in place to control catches in relation to the status of the stock. This type of system is generally referred to as ‘harvest control rules’. Basically, if scientists report that a species population has declined below a given level, the rules set out in advance how catches will be reduced so that the population can recover.
However, some Indian and Pacific Ocean tuna fisheries have been accepted as sustainable by the MSC simply on the basis that scientific evaluation of the stock by the relevant regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) suggests that its status is good without any formal certification having been carried out.