London, UK - Today, the Marine Stewardship Council released the Terms of Reference for its next Fisheries Standard Review. This describes the areas of the MSC’s Fisheries Standard that will be looked at in detail, and possibly revised, over the next three years.
The Fisheries Standard Review occurs every five years and is an opportunity to improve the Standard by addressing any issues raised by stakeholders and by the MSC’s own monitoring and evaluation. The topics in the Terms of Reference have been collected since the end of the last review in 2013. The MSC, with input from external experts, will also seek to incorporate widely accepted new science or fisheries management best practice into the Standard as part of the review.
What’s covered?
The areas for review in the Terms of Reference are divided into three sections: Standard efficiency, Standard effectiveness and Standard evolution.
Reviewing Standard efficiency will involve looking at the structure of the MSC Fisheries Standard and identifying redundancy or overlap in the scoring system. It will also focus on ways to reduce the complexity of the Standard and improve its compatibility with new digital tools that could improve data management.
The Standard effectiveness review will examine the application of the Standard by assessors, with a particular focus on consistency. Existing tools for assessing data limited fisheries will also be included in this section.
Finally, Standard evolution, will focus on where the MSC Fisheries Standard sets performance levels for sustainability with the aim of ensuring that this is set appropriately. In this area, the review will focus on areas such as how interactions with endangered, threatened and protected species are addressed by the Standard. Governance, including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, will also be looked at. This part of the review will also determine the appropriateness of the MSC Fisheries Standard for assessing the sustainability of certain species like squid and octopus.
“The review and potential revision process must include all interested parties and balance the diverse needs and views of many different organisations. As well as ensuring that performance levels are set appropriately in key areas, the accessibility and effectiveness of the Standard will be reviewed with the aim to achieve sustainability outcomes while reducing complexity and barriers to participation. The MSC is committed to the inclusion of underrepresented stakeholders in the FSR, and impact testing will form an important part of the review,” said Dr Rohan Currey, Fisheries Standard Director.
The next steps
The next steps, now that the Terms of Reference have been released, include commissioning scientific research and consulting with technical experts, the MSC Technical Advisory Board and Stakeholder Advisory Council to examine all topics.
Once this has completed, the MSC Board of Trustees will decide, based on the outcomes, whether any part of the Standard needs to be revised to achieve the objectives set out at the beginning of the process. Any revisions to the Standard will then be developed through targeted consultation with stakeholders including fisheries, NGOs, retailers, commercial partners and scientific experts, it will also be open to public consultation. Those interested in participating can register their interest at www.msc.org/fsr