Marketdriven conservation: Social issues in certification schemes for capture fisheries

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Market-driven conservation Social issues in
certification schemes for capture fisheries

• Chandrika Sharma
• International Collective in Support of
  Fishworkers (ICSF)

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Fish Trade

• Fish and fish products most traded food
  commodity.
• About half of global fish production for food
  consumption traded
• Developing countries contribute 50 per cent
  (quantity) and 46 per cent (value) of the world
  exports of fish and fishery products

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Ecolabelling

• Growing concern about status of fish stocks
  spurred ecolabelling initiatives
• Aim to use market incentives to
• promote consumer demand for fish caught in
  environmentally sustainable ways
• reward producers practising responsible fisheries

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Ecolabelling Schemes

• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
• Friends of the Sea (FOS)
• Naturland
• Dolphin-safe (EII)
• KRAV (Swedish ecolabel for wild-caught seafood,
  life-cycle assessment)

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Ecolabelling Schemes

• Fairfish (animal welfare, sustainability and fair
  trade)
• Carrefour (French supermarket chain own label
  peche responsable)
• Industry schemes Canada, UK, Iceland
  (proposed)...
• Fishermen-led labels (Breton fishers, blue crab,
  Thailand, catch shares, USA)

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Ecolabelling Schemes

• First party labeling (self-declaration regarding
  adherence to own standards)
• Second party labeling (established by industry
  associations for their members products, internal
  audit procedures or audit by external certifying
  companies)
• Third party labeling (independent certification,
  high credibility)

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FAO Guidelines

• Proliferation of ecolabels, concerns of
  developing countries regarding trade barriers
• Led to 2005 FAO Guidelines for the Ecolabelling
  of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture
  Fisheries.
• Set out principles, minimum requirements and
  criteria--provide a benchmark against which
  schemes can be compared.

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FAO Guidelines

• Specify that ecolabelling schemes should be
  voluntary, transparent, non-discriminatory, and
  should recognize the special conditions applying
  to developing countries.
• Recommend independent, third party certification
• Three substantive minimum requirements the
  fisheries management system, the status of the
  target stocks, and ecosystem considerations

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Friends of the Sea

• Claims to be the main seafood certification
  schememore than 10mn MT of wild catch assessed
  (including non-food fish)
• Certified products from all continents including
  Morocco. Maldives, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Brazil,
  Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam (tuna, shrimp,
  squid, sardines, cuttlefish, clam)
• Claims to be the only scheme that follows the FAO
  Guidelines

10
Naturland Germany

• Has developed Standards for Sustainable Capture
  Fishery
• Explicitly aligned with the three dimensions of
  sustainability (social, ecological, and
  economic). Addresses issues of livelihoods, fair
  working conditions
• Recent initiative Lake Victoria Nile Perch

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Marine Stewardship Council

• Focus only on environmental sustainability
• 42 fisheries certified during the first ten years
  of MSC certification
• About 4 mn MT of seafood certifiedover 7 of
  total global capture production for direct human
  consumption
• Real volume of MSC-labeled products is likely to
  be less than 1 of global fish (Globefish study)

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Marine Stewardship Council

• Concentrated markets5 markets (UK, USA, Germany,
  Sweden, Switzerland) account for 3/4 of MSC sales
• Popular in certain kinds of markets (aware
  population, supermarket shares high, demand for
  processed products high...)
• Concentrated speciesabout 50 of MSC products
  are hake type fish, 42 is Alaska salmon
• Information from Globefish study

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MSC and developing countries

• Few examples of MSC certified fisheries (South
  African hake, Mexican Baja California spiny
  lobster)
• Certification is difficult (data deficiencies,
  weak fisheries management, costs prohibitive,
  multi-species fisheries)
• No immediate economic imperative/ perceived threat

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MSC and developing countries

• Developing World Fisheries Programme to address
  data-deficient fisheries/ SSF
• Assessment guidelines include the use of TEK and
  traditional management systems, and risk
  assessment component for data-deficient fisheries
• Certified Ben Tre Vietnamese clam fisheries,
  India oil sardine fishery in Kerala being
  assessed
• Will MSC be able to certify large catch
  fisheries, operating within a multi-species
  regime, in developing countries?

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Certification Benefit to Producers?

• No clear evidence of price premiums accruing to
  producers, though markets are are likely to be
  more secured/ assured/ new markets
• Producers assume the bulk of the costs of
  certification
• Information from Globefish study

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Other issues

• Certification often of fishery that is already
  sustainable (countries of the North are better
  able to meet the standards)
• Globefish study found that retailers (Walmart,
  Marks and Spencers, Sainsbury, Tesco, Metro,
  Carrefour, Lidl, ICA Sweden) committed to
  ecolabelling (mainly MSC), see it as a marketing
  tool, good publicity, CSR

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Can SSF benefit?

• Bangkok statement (2008) Reject ecolabelling
  schemes, while recognizing area-specific labeling
  that identifies socially and ecologically
  sustainable fisheries
• Reject narrow focus on environmental
  sustainability onlymost fisheries certified are
  industrial fisheries, often under quota
  management, that marginalize SSF  

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What can be done?

• Short-term
• Build on comparative advantages (rich culture,
  traditional knowledge systems, sustainable
  small-scale gear, unique processing techniques,
  use of sails/ wind power), support their
  certification, promote niche markets (incl.
  domestic mkts)
• Work in partnership with communities/ fishworker
  organizations

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What can be done?

• Short-term
• Support self-certification initiatives by
  small-scale fishers and fish processors (eg.
  improve management/ enforcement, technology/
  inputs)
• Explore schemes that balance various dimensions
  of sustainability (environmental, social and
  economic)
• Explore Geographic indications (GIs) (e.g., nuoc
  mam anchovy fish sauce from Phu Quoc, Viet Nam)

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What can be done?

• Long-term
• Need to proactively improve fisheries management,
  balancing biological, social and economic
  objectives
• Management methods should draw on traditional
  knowledge, co-management approaches, keeping in
  mid multi-species nature of fisheries and diverse
  local cultures
•  

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• Thank you