1. Marine Fisheries Certification and
Seafood Costumer Awareness:
Demand-based methods
for managing fisheries resources
By: Nara Wisesa
Environmental Policy and Law Conference
Central European University
Budapest
17 January 2009
2. World Fisheries Trend
In the 1950’s
• Prelude of the commercial/industrial fisheries boom
• Only around 10% of fish stocks has been fully exploited
• 40% of fish stocks are being developed/explored for exploitation
• 50% of fish stocks are still in a pristine condition
Current State of Fisheries
- All stocks have been exploited
- 30% are fully exploited, and 40% are overexploited
- The remaining 30% have already collapsed
(UNEP 2007; Ward and Myers 2005)
3. World Fisheries Trend
From: UNEP Global Environment Outlook 4 (2007)
The graph shows the level of global fish stock exploitation between 1950 and 2003.
4. World Fisheries Trend
Marine fish landing trend still on the rise
- Catching down the food web
- lower trophic species exploitation
- Exploitation of poorly studied stocks
- deep-sea species, polar species
Environmental Impacts of fisheries
- Destruction of fish habitats and nursery grounds
- Due to destructive fishing methods
- Disturbance of marine food-webs
- Removal of important predators
(Eklof et al. 2008; Lutchman 2005)
5. World Fisheries Trend
What is causing this trend?
Ever-rising demand for
Marine Fisheries Products
Seafood for Human Consumption
(78% of all fish landings)
Fishmeal, Fish Oil,
and other fisheries related Industries
(22% of all fish landings)
(Blanco et al. 2007)
6. Dealing with Seafood Demand
This rising demand led to the launch of seafood
related social marketing campaigns
• Certification of marine fisheries products
• Seafood consumer awareness campaigns
7. Dealing with Seafood Demand
Aims of these campaigns
Environmental & Social perspective
- To educate consumers about the environmental
effects of certain fisheries
- Initiate change in seafood consumption behavior
- Reduce the negative environmental impact of fisheries
Business perspective
- Demand for certified seafood products from educated
consumers would bring profit
- Fisheries would have the incentive to adopt
environmentally friendly methods
(Caviglia-Harris et al. 2003; Jacquet and Pauly 2007)
8. Marine Fisheries Certification
• Dolphin-safe Tuna Certification
– Classified as a single attribute label
– Aim is to minimize/avoid dolphin by-catch
• Prohibits the use of tuna fishing methods that harms dolphins
• MSC – Marine Stewardship Council
• KRAV eco-label
– Swedish eco-label for food products
– Also provide certification for fisheries
– A multiple attribute label that takes into account the
product’s lifecycle environmental impact
(Thrane et al. 2009)
9. Marine Stewardship Council
• Established in 1997
– Started as a cooperation between Unilever and WWF
– Has now become an independent non-profit organization
• Classified as a “resource oriented multiple attribute label”
– Focus on assessing fish stock sustainability
• Limit over-fishing of stocks
• Reduce fisheries induced ecosystem damage
• Fisheries would need to satisfy several environmental
criteria in order for it to be certified
– Consists of a 7-step certification procedure, done by an MSC-
approved certifier
– Certified products would be allowed to display MSC labels
(Jacquet and Pauly 2007; MSC 2008)
http://www.msc.org/
10. Marine Stewardship Council
A number of fisheries have obtained
this certification, including:
• Albacore tuna from the Pacific
• Alaskan pollock from the US
• Alaskan salmon from the US
• Cockles from Wales
• Herring from the UK
• Mackerel from the UK
• Rock lobster from Western Australia
• Hoki from New Zealand
• Langoustine (Norway lobster) from
Scotland
• Patagonian toothfish from the South
Atlantic Ocean
• Spiny lobster from Mexico
• Hake from South Africa
• Pacific cod from the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands
• Mackerel icefish from Australia
• etc…
(MSC 2008)
http://www.msc.org/
11. Marine Stewardship Council
• The current majority of MSC certified fisheries and the main markets
for MSC certified products are primarily in developed countries
– Consumers in these regions are currently more likely to buy low
environmental impact products
• North America
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Western Europe
• However, the establishment of MSC certification and product market
in developing countries are not far behind
– Projects to fund and encourage fisheries certification in these countries
are underway
– In combination with seafood awareness campaigns that should
generate more market interest
(MSC 2008; Thrane et al. 2009)
http://www.msc.org/
12. Seafood Costumer Awareness
• Many NGOs, aquariums, seafood
retailers and non-profit
organizations have launched
seafood costumer awareness
campaigns
– Provide information regarding the
sustainability of seafood products
• Red, Yellow and Green seafood list
– Encourage consumers to change
their habit
• Performed through various media
– Sustainable seafood guidebooks,
posters, cookbooks and wallet
guides
– Live public campaigns along with
marine themed music concerts to
generate public interest
– Television programs, Internet
websites, and advertisements
(MSC 2008; Thrane et al. 2009)
14. Challenges
• Lack of interest in certain markets
– East Asian market (e.g. Japan, China) is proving resistant
– Market potential in Africa and Latin America are questionable
• False naming and labeling
– Both intentional and unintentional
• E.g. Patagonian Toothfishes are sold as Chilean Sea Bass
– Hard to identify actual species, especially for fillets, canned, and
frozen products
– Self attributed ‘eco-friendly’ labels without rigorous certification
process
• Lack of effectiveness study
– Limited literature availability of market studies that measures the
success of fisheries eco-labeling and awareness campaign (or
the lack of it)
– Difficulty in quantifying the extent of consumer behavior change
(Jacquet and Pauly 2007, 2008; Laptikhovsky and Brickle 2005; Roheim 2003)
15. Successes
• More and more fisheries are obtaining certification
– By June 2008, 30 Fisheries has been certified
– About 100 more have started certification assessment process
• Certified fisheries have been shown to significantly lower
their impact on the environment
– Reduced level of accidental by-catch and discards of non-target
species and juveniles
– Reports of reduced dolphin mortality from DolphinSafe tuna
fisheries
• Demand for sustainable seafood is increasing
– 16000+ certified products are now available in 36 countries,
showing a growing demand
– More and more seafood producers are obtaining their
ingredients from certified fisheries
• Unilever, Birds Eye, Sealord, Iglo, etc.
– Retailers actively joining the campaign for seafood awareness
• Wal-Mart, RanchMarket
(Hicks and Schnier 2008; Jacquet and Pauly 2007; MSC 2008; Roheim 2003)
16. Conclusion
• Stock of world fisheries are in decline
– Primary cause is demand for human consumption
• In response, costumer campaigns have been
launched to control the demand for seafood
products
– Certification of marine fisheries
• DolphinSafe, MSC, KRAV
– Consumer awareness campaigns
• Initiated by NGOs, aquariums, non-profit organizations, and
seafood retailers
17. Conclusion
• Challenges faced by these campaigns include
– Lack of market interest in several regions
– Misattribution of name and misuse of labels
– Difficulty to perform studies regarding their effectiveness
• Several indicators can be considered as a sign that
these campaigns have achieved their objectives to a
certain level
– High number of fisheries are seeking certification
– A decrease in environmental impact of certified fisheries has
been observed
– Demand for sustainable seafood products has been reported to
have increased
18. Thank You
(for not eating me)
The rare Atlantic/northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), considered as a red-list species in most seafood guides
19. References
• Blanco, M., Sotelo, C.G., Chapela, M.J. and Perez-Martin, R.I. 2007. Towards sustainable and
efficient use of fishery resources: present and future trends. Trends in Food Science &
Technology. 18: 29-36.
• Caviglia-Harris, J.L., Kahn, J.R. and Green, T. 2003. Demand-side policies for environmental
protection and sustainable usage of renewable resources. Ecological Economics 45: 119-132
• Eklof, J.S., de la Torre-Castro, M., Gullstrom, M., Uku, J., Muthiga, N., Lyimo, T. and Bandeira,
S.O. 2008. Sea urchin overgrazing of seagrasses: A review of current knowledge on causes,
consequences, and management. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 79: 569-580.
• Hicks, R.L. and Schnier, K.E. 2008. Eco-labeling and dolphin avoidance: A dynamic model of tuna
fishing in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 56:
103-116.
• Jacquet, J.L. and Pauly, D. 2007. The rise of seafood awareness campaigns in an era of
collapsing fisheries. Marine Policy 31: 308-313.
• ________. 2008. Trade secrets: Renaming and mislabeling of seafood. Marine Policy 32: 309-
318
• Laptikhovsky, V. and Brickle, P. 2005. The Patagonian toothfish fishery in Falkland Islands’
waters. Fisheries Research 74: 11-23.
• Lutchman, I. 2005. Marine Protected Areas: Benefits and Costs for Islands. Amsterdam,
Netherlands: WWF-the Netherlands.
• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). 2008. MSC - The best environmental choice in seafood.
URL: http://www.msc.org/ [consulted 15 January 2009].
• Roheim, C.A. 2003. Early indications of market impacts from the marine stewardship council’s
ecolabeling of seafood. Marine Resource Economics 18: 95-104.
• Thrane, M, Ziegler, F. and Sonesson, U. 2009. Eco-labelling of wild-caught seafood products.
Journal of Cleaner Production 17: 416-423.
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2007. Global Environment Outlook 4:
environment for development. Nairobi: UNEP.
• Ward, P. and Myers, R.A. 2005. Shifts in open-ocean fish communities coinciding with the
commencement of commercial fishing. Ecology 86(4): 835-847.
20. Image Sources
• Dolphin safe logo obtained from http://www.earthisland.org/
• MSC logo and all other MSC related imagery are obtained from http://www.msc.org/
• KRAV logo obtained from http://www.krav.se/
• Australian Sustainable Seafood 3 Step Pocket Guide obtained from http://www.amcs.org.au/
• WWF-Indonesia Seafood Guide obtained from http://www.wwf.or.id/attachments/pdf/seafoodguide_small.pdf
• Seafood Selector obtained from http://environmentaldefense.org/
• Photo of Patagonian Toothfish obtained from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Toothfish.jpg
• Diagram of bottom trawl obtained from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Benthictrawl.jpg
• Photo of 1927 fishermen and their catch obtained from
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Commercial_fishing.jpg
• Photo of trawler obtained from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Fishing_Trawler.jpg
• Photo of fishing vessel obtained from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Albatun_Dod.jpg
• Photo of fish market obtained from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Wash_fish_market.jpg
• WWF-France Seafood guide obtained from http://assets.panda.org/downloads/guide_poisson.pdf
• Seafood Choices logo obtained from http://www.seafoodchoices.com/home.php
• Greenpeace Red-List Seafood image obtained from http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/oceans/seafood
• WWF-Norway Seafood Guide obtained from http://assets.panda.org/downloads/norway_seafood_guide.pdf
• Photo of WWF-Indonesia Seafood Awareness Concert obtained from http://www.wwf.or.id/marine
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Website screenshot obtained from http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
• Atlantic Blue-fin Tuna Image obtained from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/images/060724-
bluefin-tuna_big.jpg
• All images listed above were retrieved on 15 January 2009
• Background photo for final slide was taken from personal collection
