MSC Certified Sustainable Fisheries in the US

The MSC sets and manages the leading global standard for sustainable fishing. Fisheries volunteer to be assessed against this standard and, if successful, are eligible to use the MSC blue fish label to identify their catch as environmentally sustainable.

MSC Certified Fisheries in the US

The United States has been part of the MSC story almost from the very beginning. Alaska salmon became the first US fishery—and just the third fishery in the world—to achieve MSC certification in 2000.

Since then, MSC certification has expanded considerably across the United States. Today, 29 fisheries—including 90% of US wild fisheries by volume—are MSC certified. These include some of the country's largest commercial fisheries as well as smaller fisheries deeply connected to local fishing communities.

The US is also an important market for sustainable seafood. MSC certified fisheries in the US cover more than 60 species, including many that are central to the country’s commercial fishing industry. More than 1,300 products carrying the MSC blue fish label are available across all 50 states, and the volume of MSC certified products sold in the US grew by 8% from 2024 to 2025.

US fisheries have also achieved important firsts in the MSC program. In 2019, the Prestige Oysters Texas and Louisiana private oyster fishery became the first wild oyster fishery in the Americas to achieve MSC certification, adding wild-caught oysters to the diverse range of MSC certified seafood produced in the US.

Together, these fisheries show the scale and diversity of sustainable fishing in the US and the important role US fisheries play in supplying sustainable seafood to domestic and global markets.