Engage with a fishery assessment

• Are you affected or will you be affected by a certification decision on a particular fishery? 
  
• Do you have an interest in the fishery being considered for certification and/or in other resources potentially affected by the fishery? 
  
• Do you have information relevant to the assessment of the fishery for MSC certification?
  
• Do you want to comment on the performance of the certifier?
  
  

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you should consider yourself a stakeholder in that fishery. You should have your say and get involved in the MSC assessment process.

Why get involved?

Why get involved?

As a stakeholder, you are an essential source of information that will be needed to conduct a meaningful assessment. Whether you are a scientist, a fishery manager, a seafood processor, a government representative, a community member, a conservationist or other stakeholder with an interest in an assessment outcome, your information contributes to a thorough assessment.  

Your input helps ensure:
 

• The issues important to you or your organization are taken into consideration in the assessment; 
• The assessment of the fishery is well-informed and comprehensive; 
• The outcome of the assessment is consistent with the MSC Fisheries Standard
  

How and when you can comment

If you are interested in commenting on a fisheries assessment, make sure you sign up for the MSC fishery program update email to keep track of the assessment. You can also read about the fishery on the MSC Track a Fishery site. 

The certification body assessing the fishery is listed on the Track a Fishery website and you can get in touch to let them know you are interested in commenting on a fishery assessment. The certification body will then keep you informed once they know you are a stakeholder.  

A fishery assessment happens in a series of assessment stages. Stakeholders can comment on the assessment in a number of these stages.   

There is a stakeholder input template that you need to use to comment on an assessment. You will need to download this template, complete it, and email it to the certification body. Any comments provided outside of this template may not be accepted.  

You need to comment as a stakeholder at the beginning of a fishery assessment to be able to comment again at the very end of the assessment. 

The Fishery Assessment Stages

 

Assessment preparation 

A fishery assessment begins when a fishery contracts a certification body. The certification body gathers information about the assessment and assigns an assessment team.   

The assessment team analyses information about the fishery, such as technical papers, reports, and data. They use this information to decide on draft scoring of the fishery against the MSC Fisheries Standard.

 

Assessment announcement and stakeholder comments 

The assessment is announced in the MSC fisheries updates email. The announcement includes the assessment team members and the details of the site visit. 

The certification body publishes the Announcement Comment Draft Report on the MSC Track a Fishery website. This report includes draft scoring against the MSC Fisheries Standard with rationale and supporting information. For an overview of the Performance Indicators of the Standard see document below.   

At this stage, you can

Using the stakeholder input template, comment on the Announcement Comment Draft Report. Include any evidence, references, or information to support your comments and be of use to the assessment team.   

It’s most helpful to the assessment team if you focus your feedback on the draft scoring and any information gaps in the assessment.  

If this is the first time a fishery has been assessed, you have 60 days to provide your comments. If it is a re-assessment of the fishery, you have 30 days to comment. 

Email the completed stakeholder input template to the assessment team. The team’s contact details will be on the MSC Track a Fishery website in the contact tab of your fishery of interest. 

 

Site visit

At the site visit, the assessment team interviews stakeholders and fishery managers and will consider all information and issues raised. 

The assessment team uses this information to score the fishery’s performance against the MSC Fisheries Standard. 

At this stage, you can

This is your chance to give the assessment team your verbal input into the fishery assessment. You can attend the site visit and contribute. If you cannot make the site visit in person, the assessment team can arrange for you to be involved remotely, via phone or Skype (or similar). 

Client and Peer Review

The certification body produces a Client and Peer Review Draft Report summarising: 

• the fishery’s performance against the MSC Fisheries Standard 
• the fishery’s average score across each performance indicator of the Standard 
• the proposed certification outcome 
• the details of any conditions to improve the fishery’s performance. 

The certification body arranges independent experts known as peer reviewers (typically fisheries scientists) to review the draft report. Third-party scientists approve the selection of peer reviewers to ensure they give an independent review of the assessment. 

Stakeholders do not input at this stage. 

Public review of draft report

The assessment team will respond to stakeholder, client and peer-reviewer comments in a report called the Public Comment Draft Report. This report includes a draft determination of whether the fishery is recommended for certification. The certification body will contact you for your comments if you are a registered stakeholder.  

At this stage, you can

Using the same stakeholder input template, you can comment on the Public Comment Draft Report. You will be able to see the certification body's response to any comments you have already made.  

The Public Comment Draft Report is published on the MSC Track a Fishery website and posted in the Fisheries program updates email. You have 30 days to provide your comments. 

Final draft report

Once the assessment team has considered everyone’s input during the assessment, they publish a Final Draft Report. This report includes the assessment team’s final determination as to whether or not the fishery should be certified.   

If you wish to object to the determination, you have 15 working days to submit a Notice of Objection after the Final Draft Report is published.  

Certification

If the assessment determination was certification and no objections have been raised, the fishery is successfully certified. Certification lasts for a maximum of five years subject to surveillance audits.  

The certification body issues and publishes the Public Certification Report on the MSC Track a Fishery website, outlining the assessment process and any improvements that the fishery needs to make (known as conditions).  

Objections and how they work

After the Final Draft Report is published, it is possible for you to submit a Notice of Objection. A Notice of Objection can only be submitted by: 

• Stakeholders previously involved with the specific fishery assessment. This could mean that you have sent a written submission during the assessment to the certification body or attended a meeting at the site visit (in-person or remotely). 
• Stakeholders that can prove that the CAB didn’t follow procedures and as a result prevented or impaired your participation during the assessment process. 
• The fishery client(s). 

More than one stakeholder can submit a Notice of Objection for the same fishery. Once a Notice of Objection is submitted, an independent adjudicator is assigned to the objection.  

Complaints

All third party accredited certification bodies are required to have their own complaints procedure on their website. If you need to raise a complaint against any certification bodies or auditors, please use their own complaints procedure as a first step. After this, it’s possible to raise a complaint with MSC’s independent assurance body, Assurance Services International (ASI).