In my last fish watch entry I linked to an article about the
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). This was the first time I had encountered this organisation. I am happy that they took the time to read what I had written, and thought I might see what I could find out about them. Here is the
Wikipedia entry. Here is a
succinct entry from a site called “source watch.” Looks like “Fish watch” is a bit of a cliche. Perhaps I can find something more creative..
I am a new entrant to the issue of sustainable fishing, so I am constantly discovering groups who have had a long involvement with it.
The MSC is a global non-profit organisation, operating independently since 1999. It was set up by Unilever ( the world’s biggest buyer of seafood, among other things) and the World Wildlife Fund in 1997. “Over 7% of the world’s edible wild-capture fisheries are now engaged in the program, either as certified fisheries or in full assessment against the MSC standard for a sustainable fishery.”
According to their video, organisations voluntarily go through three steps to obtain certification for sustainability. A pre-assessment (private), a full assessment, measuring three main criteria:
- Sustainability of stock,
- the effect of the fishery on the marine eco- system
- the management of the fishery
Additionally the MSC audits the industries annually for the five years that the certificate is valid.
It is interesting to note that MSC works on market based incentives to encourage sustainable fishing practices.
Here is an example of the certification process in action, an article from October 2007.
Here is another, October 2007. This page is from the MSC site, and is interesting because it stirred some controversy in NZ. It is the accreditation of Hoki fisheries. The
PDF is 511 pages long.
Here is a
media release from Scoop, from November 2007, announcing the re-certification.
Here is the response from the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, September 2007. They disagreed with the re certification. ( incidentally, on the site there is a list of fish they believe are sustainable. It is a wallet sized pdf.)
I think we all agree, there is only a finite number of fish in the sea. If we catch them all, the world will be a worse place. ( believe me, I really wanted to use some puns there..)
Naturally, we cannot support fishing as we have been in the last 50 years. Even the last ten. People will lose their jobs. National economies will suffer. But these will adapt. If we allow the extinction of various delicious species of fish they will be gone forever.
I sincerely hope that the fishing industries of the world will be able to accept this.
Although there appears to be some
cynicism, doubt and
concern about whether the MSC is helping the world fish more sustainably, at least they
are doing something. As long as they recognise that local groups working towards the same goals may be just as effective, possibly more so, and accord them authority when appropriate, I think the MSC is to be commended.
