Eco-labelled fisheries mitigate bycatch and habitat impacts by improving data collection and quality

Abstract

The impact of marine wild capture fisheries on non-target species and habitats continue to threaten the sustainability of seafood production globally. The slow uptake by traditional fisheries governance of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM), which aims to reduce impacts of fisheries on the ecosystems they operate in, has led to the emergence of seafood certification schemes as a voluntary tool to incentivize adoption of environmentally sustainable fishing practices. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the most widespread seafood ecolabel, uses conditions of certification to incentivize improved operational practices in fisheries that are achieving the minimum acceptable level, but not best practice, for one or more aspects of its Fisheries Standard. Each condition is a time-bound requirement for the certificate holder to improve its performance against the Standard, such as by improving knowledge of the fishery’s impact on habitats or implementing a bycatch management strategy. If conditions are not closed within the timeline specified by the fishery assessor, the fishery certificate is temporarily suspended and ultimately revoked if remedial action is not taken. This study analyses the actions taken by certified fisheries that contributed to closure of their bycatch and habitat conditions across a range of fishery contexts. On average, fisheries using longlines receive the most bycatch conditions and fisheries using demersal trawls receive the most habitat conditions. The majority (83%) of actions taken to close these conditions involved improvements in information gathering, quality, or use, including: implementing new self-reporting systems, developing new or improved bycatch estimates, and producing quantitative impact analyses. Technical or operational change was observed less frequently, and it is likely the majority of these changes occur prior to certification. The collation of new and existing information to increase transparency around fishery operations is a key benefit of MSC certification to global seafood sustainability and may be able to inform wider implementation of EAFM.