Progress report for
Incentivising Sustainable Fisheries Through Certification
Achievement at a glance
The volume of MSC certified catch increased from 9.76 million tonnes in 2016 to 12.12 million tonnes at the end of 2018. In addition, a further 0.6 million tonnes are currently undergoing MSC assessment. In total therefore 12.72 million tonnes of catch are engaged with MSC certification which represents just over 16% of the global catch as estimated by FAO. This is significant progress toward MSCs commitment to having 20% of global catch engaged with the MSC program by 2020.Fisheries that are MSC certified target stocks that are sustainable or rebuilding. In this way the MSC program contributes to the SDG 14 goal of ending overfishing by 2020. 94% of MSC certified fisheries have been required to make at least one improvement to strengthen or further monitor the sustainability of their practices. To date, this has resulted in nearly 1500 examples of change.Challenges faced in implementation
The majority of MSC certified fisheries are in the developed world. Small scale and developing world fisheries have historically struggled to meet the MSCs strict sustainability requirements or have encountered other barriers to entry, for example, fishery data deficiency or management and technical capacity constraints. The developing world is home to 97 percent of the worlds small-scale fishers and 73% percent of the global seafood supply is now caught there. While the number of fisheries in the program from the global south has increased to 57 there is a need to increase engagement of developing world fisheries in the MSC. Greater engagement of the developing world and small-scale fisheries is thus one of the most significant challenges for the MSC.Beneficiaries
Fisheries: as the most credible and globally recognized standard for sustainable fishing, the MSC provides a platform to demonstrate that fisheries have high standards of environmental performance. The MSC is also committed to improving accessibility and building capacity in small scale and developing world fisheries and here the MSC Standard can serve as a framework for improvement \r\n\r\nProcessor and distributors: MSC certification provides a platform to meet a growing global demand for sustainable, traceable seafood. \r\n\r\nRetailers: In a world where people increasingly care about where their food comes from, MSCs globally recognised and market-leading certification program and ecolabel gives retailers and customers added confidence and trust in seafood products. \r\n\r\nConsumers: in a world where people increasingly care about where their food comes from, the MSC label makes it easy to select sustainable, traceable and wild seafood that consumers can trust.