... MSC Marine Stewardship Council
...protecting our marine health and wealth Seen from space Earth is dominated by the oceans. On land we forget just how vast the oceans are and what riches they contain. We have only just begun to understand the complexity of life below their surface and to realise how important it is to the health of our planet. But we are waking up to the realisation that all is not well beneath the waves. Many of the world s fish species are under threat from overfishing. Key fish stocks are being destroyed, so endangering a vital source of food and the livelihoods of millions of people. The diversity of marine life is being damaged, possibly for ever. The Marine Stewardship Council offers a unique and inspiring contribution to solving this global threat. It harnesses the purchasing power of consumers and the skills of fishery managers to promote fisheries that are genuinely sustainable in the long term. Its vision of seas restored to both health and wealth has won the support of conservationists, governments, the fishing industry and consumers around the world. Already fisheries in many parts of the world are engaged in the MSC programme. So too are major retailers of seafood and suppliers to schools and other institutions. The MSC s target is to push for a much greater scale of change so that seafood can continue to be enjoyed, with a clear conscience, by our own and future generations. By supporting the MSC you will join me in backing a significant, practical and effective effort to bring about change in global fishing. Here is an opportunity for each one of us to play our part in tackling one of the most important environmental challenges our planet faces. Your help to support the MSC s pioneering work can, and will, make a difference. Sir David Attenborough Credit: BBC 1
The environmental well-being of the oceans matters to all of us. But our oceans are not inexhaustible. For decades we have behaved as though the oceans could provide us with an unlimited supply of seafood. But overfishing has created a crisis for world stock levels. In the last 50 years we have reduced the biomass of fish like cod, tuna, grouper and shark in the oceans by 90%. Wasteful fishing has also led to seabirds, turtles, other mammals and non-targeted fish being destroyed needlessly, caught as unintended bycatch. Ocean habitats, millions of years in the making, are being irreversibly damaged. The livelihoods of fishers are increasingly threatened by economic collapse. The need for marine conservation has never been more urgent. Technological advances mean that fishing effort has intensified and catch levels have soared. Corrective political action has been inadequate. Then there is the sheer difficulty of policing the high seas where the boats of many nations compete for highly migratory and highly prized species like tuna. At the same time as human populations are growing we are becoming increasingly aware of the health benefits of eating more fish. So demand for fish is rising fast. Simply making up some of the gap between demand and the supply of wild capture fish with farmed fish seems seductive. But there are real concerns about the possible environmental risks of aquaculture that add complexity to the situation. In addition to these impacts from our exploitation of the oceans, the influence mankind has had on the global climate is affecting the temperature of the water and damaging the marine food chain further in consequence. But amidst the gloom there is good news. The global seafood market can be reformed with the help of pioneering, responsible fisheries... The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that a quarter of the world s fisheries are either overexploited, depleted or struggling to recover, while a further fifty per cent are being fished as hard as they can be. 2 Credit: Heiploeg, P. Sutherland 3
Certified sustainable: the Hastings herring and mackerel fishery. Seafood markets must be transformed if the marine environment is to be saved. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was set up through a pioneering partnership between Unilever and the World Wildlife Fund. Business and conservation interests came to a common understanding that the problems of the oceans had to be tackled, and could be tackled, if action was taken quickly. They decided that a certification and eco-labelling system could be used to address the issues. The MSC was set up to operate such a programme. The vision that the MSC has pursued since is of the world s oceans teeming with life, and seafood supplies safeguarded for this and future generations. The MSC works to make this a reality by delivering a transformation of seafood markets to a sustainable basis. This transformation will be achieved by promoting independent auditing of the fishing industry against stringent criteria of sustainability and traceability, so helping to reverse the decline in the world s wild capture fish stocks, to improve marine conservation and, in so doing, to secure the livelihoods of people involved in the industry. Any fishery can apply to be assessed against the MSC s rigorous environmental standard (covering analysis of the relevant fish stock, the impact of the fishery on the ecosystem and of the fishery management systems in place). Fisheries that meet the standard can then use the MSC eco-label on their products. The label provides a readily accessible and reliable indicator of sustainable sourcing. This brings market benefits for the producer, for seafood processors and retailers, as well as reassurance for environmentally aware consumers. The more seafood that carries the MSC label, the more confident we can be that ever bigger areas of the oceans are being managed responsibly. The MSC believes that transforming the seafood market to a sustainable footing is an aim we can all participate in, which benefits everyone now and in the future. 4 Credit: N Turner 5
Fisheries certification and the MSC eco-label are making a difference. Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear that the MSC model is able to, and already is, fulfilling the hopes of its founders. The MSC is now generating real traction in the marketplace. From being a bit player it has become an influential agent of change. The evidence is in the significant increase in the number of fisheries joining the programme and the rapid rise in the number of MSC-labelled products on sale in shops and other outlets worldwide. MSC-certified fisheries now make up a significant proportion of all wild capture production for a number of key traded species. The public commitment of companies like Wal-Mart in the USA, Aeon in Japan, the Dutch Retail Association, and Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer in the UK to purchase certified fish has been another sign of the impact the MSC is now having in the market. These commitments, and those of other retailers and processors, to develop and market more MSC-labelled products, have generated interest in the MSC among suppliers and boosted consumer awareness of the MSC eco-label. The MSC is based firmly in the realities of the seafood marketplace. But it is working to change the way in which that market works. There are clear and exciting indications that this is happening. The ecological imperative for the type of change the MSC is working to create is stronger now than ever before. As each year of overfishing and environmental degradation passes the extent of the problems rises. If current trends continue there is a very real danger of seeing wild fish stocks disappear forever in our lifetime. A business as usual approach is not an option if the health of the oceans is to be improved and restored to a sustainable condition. The progress the MSC has made has resulted in some real environmental gains. This is tremendously heartening. But more needs to be done, and done now, if the oceans of the world are to remain productive and if further deterioration of the marine environment is to be avoided. The MSC eco-label is recognised as a credible sign of sustainability by ever more consumers, producers and retailers alike. 6 Credit: D Leadbitter/MSC. Credit: Michael Cockerham 7
The MSC has many challenges to meet and still much to deliver to secure lasting change. While much progress has been made by the MSC, there is still much that needs to be tackled in the period ahead. Over the coming years the MSC will need to overcome a number of challenges. They will include: Bringing more certified fish to market the proportion of the world s edible wild capture catch in the programme needs to increase until it reaches a level such that MSC-certified seafood becomes the industry norm and fisheries seek certification as a matter of course. The MSC needs to encourage processors, distributors and retailers to increase the supply of certified seafood on sale and the number of MSC-labelled products available to consumers worldwide. Then the market for unsustainable seafood will contract and the process will become irreversible. Increasing Developing Country access the MSC programme is open to all fisheries regardless of scale or location. Millions of people are directly involved in harvesting and processing fish worldwide, many are in developing countries. The MSC wants to see more of them in the programme. So work is being done to make the MSC approach more accessible to fisheries in more parts of the world, without jeopardising the credibility of the assessment process, by ensuring it is relevant and that there are no methodological barriers to entry. Proving the environmental benefits of certification although the potential long-term impact of the MSC approach is clear, the environmental benefits of the work have only recently begun to be measured and recorded systematically. Growing evidence shows that vulnerable marine species are already benefiting from changes made as conditions of MSC certification. But the MSC needs more substantial scientific information to prove the marine conservation impact unequivocally. Ensuring the quality, consistency and cost effectiveness of assessments with the growth of the programme comes an ongoing challenge. We need to ensure that the process of certification remains credible and that the third party scientific basis of the assessment process is just as robust and of the consistent quality that has won the MSC the support of environmentalists. The MSC wants to make the system as easy and cheap as possible without sacrificing rigour. Building end-consumer awareness and support the MSC programme works through both demand pull and supply push pressures to encourage consumers to exercise the best choice for the environment when buying seafood. Choosing to purchase MSC-labelled seafood depends greatly on consumers understanding the issues involved and sympathising with them. The MSC wants to do more to inform their decisions and to raise the importance of considering sustainability when they buy seafood, so that it becomes a priority concern. 8 Credit: D Leadbitter/MSC 9
The MSC can achieve so much more in the future with your help. A sustainable future for the global seafood industry and a secure future for the marine environment is achievable. If it is to meet the challenges of the future and to scale up its work to do so, the MSC needs to strengthen its capacity to undertake its core outreach work to fisheries, consumers and the commercial world alike. It has its headquarters in London, regional offices in Seattle and Sydney and local offices in Tokyo, Cape Town, Berlin, the Hague and Edinburgh (as at 2008). As a global organisation the MSC needs to be flexible about the deployment of its staff and other resources. And as a charity, a non-profit organisation, it needs to be diligent in ensuring the maximum effectiveness in its use of all the help that it receives so generously from its supporters. The MSC is a mechanism of hope for a better future for the marine environment, for maintaining the bio-diversity of the oceans, for the livelihoods of fishers and for food security for people in much of the world. There is a real need for the MSC to maintain a sound business model and a sustainable financial base while growing to meet the challenges that confront it. There is now a realistic prospect that the global seafood market can be changed so that the industry can have a sustainable future. Instead of fish species disappearing, stocks can be conserved and used year on year. Instead of marine ecosystems being destroyed by use of inappropriate gear, healthy environments can be encouraged. Livelihoods can be secured rather than jobs and incomes lost. Good management can be rewarded. The success that the MSC has achieved is encouraging in that it shows that one of the greatest challenges to the global environment can be tackled successfully. The organisation needs the continuing help of all who believe that the marine environment matters; of all who believe that future generations should have the choice of fish to eat. The MSC can and is making a difference. But there is still some way to go. 10 Credit: A Aitchison 11
The MSC helps resolve one of the key challenges facing mankind in the twenty first century. If you would like to help make a difference, please contact the MSC Development Team in London or staff in one of our Regional or Local Offices for more details. Please call London +44 (0) 207 811 3300 and ask to speak to one of the Development Team Or for Seattle +1 206 691 0188/9 Sydney +61 2 9524 8400 Tokyo +81 70 6669 9014 The Hague +31 70 360 5979 Berlin +49 (0)30 8849 7008 Edinburgh +44 (0)131 243 2617 Cape Town +27 (0)21 4255086 or email seaintothefuture@msc.org 12 Credit: John Anderson/Dreamstime.com
info@msc.org www.msc.org MSC HEAD OFFICE (Europe, Africa and Middle East) 3rd Floor Mountbarrow House 6-20 Elizabeth Street London SW1W 9RB UK Tel: +44 20 7811 3300 Fax: +44 20 7811 3301 Registered charity: 1066806 (Germany) Schwedter Straße 9a 10119 Berlin Germany Tel: +49 (0)30 8849 7008 (Scotland) 4th Floor Thorn House 5 Rose Street Edinburgh EH2 2PR Tel: +44 (0)131 243 2617 MSC REGIONAL OFFICE (Americas) 2110 North Pacific Street Suite 102 Seattle WA 98103 USA Tel: +1 206 691 0188/9 Fax: +1 206 691 0190 Non-profit status 501(c)(3) (Japan) 3rd Floor, AIG Kabuto-cho Bldg. 5-1, Nihonbashi Kabuto-cho, Chuo-ku Tokyo, Japan 103-0026 Tel: +81 (0)3 6861 7515 (Southern Africa) Postal address: P.O. Box 7107, Roggebaai, 8012, Cape Town, South Africa Tel: +27 (0)21 4255086 MSC REGIONAL OFFICE (Asia-Pacific) 10/46-48 Urunga Parade Miranda NSW 2228 Australia Tel: +612 9524 8400 Fax: +612 9524 8900 ABN: 69 517 984 605 (Netherlands) Sweelinckplein 9-11, Unit 12 2517 GK, Den Haag Netherlands Tel: +31 (0)70 360 5979