Reconsidering which fisheries must use Section SE, a section of the Standard designed to better meet the needs of fisheries managed by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
Section SE contains requirements that incentivise multijurisdictional fisheries to adopt effective harvest strategies. Revisions are being made to ensure these requirements can be applied in practice.
The revisions are being carried out as part of the MSC’s Fisheries Program Revisions, which will resolve key concerns around Version 3.1 of the Standard, and ensure the MSC program continues to drive real and lasting progress towards ending
overfishing.
The proposed changes will be shared later in 2026, and there will be an opportunity to provide feedback through a 60-day public consultation.
Why are revisions needed?
Section SE was introduced in Version 3 to provide a pathway for fisheries managed by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) to adopt effective harvest strategies. Such fisheries can face challenges in closing conditions of MSC certification due to the time required for RFMOs to develop and adopt harvest strategies. Section SE aims to resolve these challenges.
Section SE has been applied effectively in RFMO-managed tuna fisheries, but there have been reports of difficulties in non-tuna fisheries, due to differences between the management measures prioritised by the RMFOs and the measures required in Section SE.
Areas of revision
The revisions will focus on the following areas:
- Reviewing the feasibility of Section SE for non-tuna RFMOs
This follows feedback from assessors and RFMOs that the Section SE requirements for non-tuna stocks are preventing well-managed fisheries from achieving and/or retaining MSC certification. For example, Section SE requires that Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) is applied to a harvest strategy to determine whether it is effective; non-tuna RFMOs that prioritise other methods of evaluation would not be able to meet the requirements, regardless of how effective the harvest strategy is. - Reviewing the entry requirements for Section SE for all fisheries
This will include reviewing whether a management body’s MSE commitment is required prior to applying Section SE and, if so, what constitutes acceptable evidence of that commitment.
Developing the revisions
Any proposed changes will be subject to pilot tests and impact assessments to ensure they deliver the intended sustainability outcomes and can be consistently applied.
The revisions to these areas may change the level of performance required to meet our Standard.
Next steps
Our stakeholders and partners will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the revisions proposed through a 60-day public consultation, which is expected to take place later in 2026.
We anticipate the updated versions will be issued in mid 2027 and come into effect six months after publication (likely early 2028).
If you have any questions about the Fisheries Program Revisions, please contact [email protected] or your local MSC representative.
