"In the past I believed that MSC certification was a barrier to trade for developing countries. Now I see it is a useful tool for conservation and marketing."

Nancy Gitonga, former Director of Fisheries, Kenya, now a consultant for FishAfrica

The fishing industry is critically important in the developing world. Half of the world’s traded seafood comes from developing countries. Millions of people rely on seafood for an essential source of nutrition, and the World Bank estimate that the livelihoods of about 200 million people depend on fishing and associated activities. Ensuring fisheries remain healthy, productive and profitable is vital for millions of people living in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

MSC's Developing World Fisheries Program

The MSC’s Developing World Fisheries Program promotes fair and equal access to sustainable seafood markets. It ensures that developing countries can access the conservation and economic benefits of MSC certification, and helps to safeguard fisheries as a reliable, long term source of food security. It has two main aims:

• Raise awareness of the MSC program and increase the involvement of stakeholders in developing countries.
• Ensure the MSC certification program is relevant and applicable to developing world fisheries.

We achieve these aims through following activities:

Engaging fisheries and stakeholders

Some developing world fisheries have already achieved MSC certification and many more are engaging in the program. MSC staff based in our offices around the world conduct outreach to stakeholders in developing countries. By meeting local fishing representatives and organisations, developing relevant materials and presenting the MSC program, we raise awareness of sustainable seafood markets, and increase participation from developing country fisheries.

Two-way partnerships

We work in partnership with local and international governmental and non-governmental organisations to raise awareness of our certification and ecolabelling program. By sharing our knowledge of global sustainable seafood markets we help partner organisations access these markets and share good practice with seafood buyers, scientists, conservation organisations and fishery managers. Where possible, we help partners find sources of financial support and build capacity to help developing country fisheries engage in the MSC program.

Pilot program for small-scale and data-deficient fisheries

Many developing country fisheries do not have the detailed scientific data needed to demonstrate a conclusive case for their sustainability. It is crucial that such fisheries are not excluded from the program. The MSC has developed new guidelines to enable certifiers to assess small and data-poor fisheries against the MSC standard (Guidance for the Assessment of Small-Scale and Data-Deficient fisheries). Since November 2007 the first fisheries, including 4 in developing countries, have been piloting these guidelines in trial assessments. Read more about our project to ensure the MSC is accessible to all fisheries.

Funding support

Some organisations offer financial support to fisheries that want to get certified as sustainable but lack the necessary finances. Find out more about available grants and how to support the MSC.

Representation within the MSC

The MSC's governance structure reflects a balanced range of stakeholder interests and geographical regions, including representation from developing country stakeholders on our Board, Technical Advisory Board and Stakeholder Council. Read more about our governance structure.