In June 2023, following our year-long external review of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), On The Hook published a new report summarising sector-wide concerns about MSC’s Standards and performances and issuing an urgent call for reform.
The report includes a roadmap of recommendations for MSC. These recommendations seek to reimagine a definition of ‘MSC-certified sustainable seafood’ fit for the 21st century, considering the range of the standard, its accessibility and the types of fisheries and fishing practices which should be considered eligible. They also consider the transparency and effectiveness of MSC’s business model in delivering this mission, with key issues to address including conflicts of interest between CABs (assessment bodies) and fisheries under assessment as well as the certification of fisheries with ‘conditions’. These are improvements that need to be made within 5 years, during which time the fishery is considered to be ‘certified’ and its catch can be sold carrying the MSC ecolabel. If implemented, we suggest that the measures set out in our roadmap would go a long way towards restoring the MSC’s credibility and reassuring stakeholders of its ability to guarantee seafood sustainability – and also reduce the exposure of retailers relying upon the MSC logo as a mark of sustainability, a consideration which is particularly important in light of the recent wave of lawsuits taken against food businesses’ sustainability claims.
Our campaign initially made repeated calls on MSC to launch a full-access independent review itself. With the MSC unwilling to do this, we felt there was no choice but to run our own. Although we did not benefit from access to members of the MSC team, internal materials or processes, we nevertheless ran a detailed and extensive review process, facilitated and written up by a third-party consultancy. It drew on considerable amounts of stakeholder time and expertise, freely given out of a desire to see the MSC tighten its standards in order to fulfil the vital role it was set up for – to provide a consumer guarantee of seafood sustainability and, in turn, drive improvement across a growing proportion of the fishing industry.
On The Hook’s review was intended in a constructive spirit with a goal of both kickstarting urgent reform of the MSC but also promoting a wider pragmatic discussion on addressing the challenges inherent to seafood certification. We have been encouraged by the welcome the report has received and grateful to those who have been in touch to share their views on some of the complexities we, and the wider stakeholder community, are still trying to tackle. These challenges include how we define sustainability, where exactly we draw the line on what we consider a sustainable fishery or fishing practice and how the funding models proposed would work in practice, through to whether MSC could ever be an effective model for small-scale fisheries and whether MSC is too entrenched at this stage for meaningful reform to be a possibility.
This report was always intended as a starting point for further debate, extended research and ongoing campaigning, and we are delighted that it is being used as such. Nonetheless, the most important conversation we had hoped it would open was with the MSC and so far, we have been concerned and disappointed at their lack of engagement with the recommendations made. Their public statement demonstrates a resistance to self-reflection by simply dismissing the outcomes of our year-long review rather than responding to its substantive recommendations.
MSC’s response suggests that the report mispresents their program and gives too little credit for the improvements it has made. This is far from the truth. Our report acknowledged genuine improvements driven by the MSC program, such as enhanced data collection. It also reflects on the considerable steps forward the MSC has taken, such as the recent introduction of a Fins Naturally Attached requirement for all fisheries to prevent shark finning.
Nonetheless, it is undeniable that our review revealed significant issues and concerns regarding the MSC. The review confirmed that many expert stakeholders in the conservation community agree there are fisheries within the MSC program that are not sustainable, that this risks reputational damage to sustainable actors involved in the program, and that this prevents the ecolabel from driving the change it was set up to deliver.
As Professor Callum Roberts emphasised in his foreword to On The Hook’s report, trust is the MSC’s only asset and one which, once lost, requires considerable clarity, commitment and investment to regain. The MSC can only successfully achieve what is needed from it if it drops its defensiveness and embraces meaningful reform. Our roadmap clearly outlines the necessary next steps for MSC – we have recently written once again to the MSC’s leadership urging them to get started along the path to reform. We have set out our suggestions – the ball is now in MSC’s court to get on with delivering them. The ocean cannot wait much longer.
We hope that you will continue to follow our campaign and amplify our calls for MSC reform. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@onthehook.org.uk to share any thoughts or if you can help.
