Q: What is the
background to the
work the MSC does?
A: Overfishing and its associated
environmental impact is the world’s
second biggest challenge after climate change.
According to the UN, 50% of fisheries are being
fished as hard as they can be, 25% are being
over-exploited and when you consider that the
global population is forecast to grow from
6 billion to 9 billion in the coming years,
global food security is a real issue. We have to
catch seafood in a sustainable way to safeguard
supplies for future generations.
Q: What does the
MSC do?
A: The MSC is the standard setter for the
world’s leading sustainable seafood
certification and ecolabelling programme.
When we were set up in 1997, we took two
painstaking years to develop the standards that
fisheries are measured against and this involved a
huge amount of work with all of the stakeholders
– government scientists, marine experts and the
global fishing industry to name but a few. There
are independent certifying bodies around the
world who carry out the certification process,
which involves a pre-assessment and action plan
stage, the main assessment, then annual checks
and a 5 yearly re-certification. The MSC now has
eight offices around the world and we play a big
part in reaching out to fisheries and the supply
chain to persuade them of the importance and
benefits of gaining certification.
Q: Are consumers
becoming more
aware of seafood
sustainability?
A: Undoubtedly. Consumers are much more
concerned about the traceability and
provenance of their food today. They don’t
necessarily want to understand all the details but
they want to be reassured and that’s what the
MSC’s blue logo on food packaging or menus
does – it reassures them that checks have been
made and the fish they are buying is sustainable.
Q: What are the
advantages of
serving MSC
certified seafood?
A: It’s all about giving your customers the
confidence in the food they are eating
and building your credibility and trust with
them. The supermarkets have proven there is
a big demand for sustainable seafood and the
same consumer demand applies to foodservice.
This huge increase in consumer awareness is
also persuading more and more fisheries and
suppliers of the business benefits of seeking
certification too.
Q: How do you
measure the success
of the MSC?
A: A number of factors – today 12% of global
fisheries catching wild-caught seafood for
human consumption are either certified or in
the process of becoming certified. They are
responsible for catching 7 million tonnes of
seafood a year. There are now over 3,500
different MSC-certified products sold in 60
countries around the world. In the UK, 60%
of fisheries are MSC-certified. More fisheries
sign up every year and that’s a good thing too
because it opens them up to third party scrutiny
and demonstrates their sustainability.
Q: How have M&J
Seafood and their
customers helped
with your goals?
A: Globally, M&J Seafood provide the widest
range of MSC-certified products and they
aim to increase the list to 100 products by the
end of the year, which is fantastic news. Your
customers have created this demand and we’re
really grateful for everyone’s support. This is a
long-term project but with continued support
like this, I really do believe we will make a huge
difference to the world’s oceans and future
generations.
