Measuring environmental impacts
The MSC programme contributes to the health of the world’s lakes and oceans by recognizing and rewarding sustainable fishing, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood, and working with our partners to transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis.
MSC is committed to measuring the environmental impacts of our programme, and is exploring a range of ways to do this.
As more fisheries discover the benefits of becoming certified, many introduce new management practices so they can prove they are well managed. These changes usually happen before the MSC assessment starts, so the fishery can show it meets the MSC environmental standard for sustainable fishing. Some fisheries are already operating in a sustainable way, and do not need to make any changes to their management practices. For others, the changes vary widely according to the specific circumstances of the fishery. For example:
- The South Africa hake fishery introduced an observer program to ensure every vessel's catch is independently monitored. The fishery also took steps to reduce bycatch, especially seabirds.
- The South Georgia Patagonian toothfish fishery implemented a range of measures before the assesment took place. This included measures to reduce seabird by-catch, such as setting fishing lines at night and adding weights to lines to help them sink faster (and so avoid interactions with seabirds). Bycatch of albatross declined rapidly as a result, and was soon close to zero. Other measures introduced include an observer program on all vessels and halting transhipment of catches to secure traceability.
In 2005 MSC employed researchers to undertake an initial evaluation of the environmental impacts of MSC certification on the management practices of 10 fisheries. The study looked at the period after certification. The researchers investigated more than 60 separate actions that 10 fisheries undertook between 2000 and 2005 after they had been certified for at least a year. The research team based their work on Action Plans agreed by the fisheries at the time of their certification. This meant that progress post-certification could be evaluated.
The study did not look at changes in the fisheries before certification, which may be when the biggest environmental benefits occur as fisheries adjust their practices to meet the MSC environmental standard for sustainable fishing.This will be the focus of future work.
Next steps
The MSC is collaborating with the ISEAL Alliance to explore the development of a Code of Good Practice on Measuring the Impact of Certification that will help shape a framework for the MSC to develop its own Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.
ISEAL Alliance website - information on Measuring Impacts of Voluntary Certification
Project downloads
Summary of findings May 2006, PDF
Environmental benefits resulting from certification against the MSC standard for sustainable fishing May 2006, PDF 3MB
MSC workshop: Monitoring and evaluating the environmental impacts of the MSC certification programme - Final workshop report September 2006, PDF
