Eco-certification of sustainably managed fisheries—Redundancy or synergy?

There is an increasing global awareness of the consequences of overfishing and the need to implement sustainable fisheries management practices. The traditional custodians, governments and regional fisheries management organizations, have been slow to react creating a niche for environmental and non-profit groups to become increasingly active through eco-certification and sustainability ranking programs. While both the traditional and the new players tend to share a similar approach based on maximum sustainable yield reference points, they differ in scope and delivery mechanisms. The potential exists for confusion with regard to who should be determining whether a fishery is sustainable with the cost of possible redundancy being ultimately borne by the public. However, there is also the potential for synergy and, given the limited progress thus far with respect to achieving sustainable fisheries by traditional means, perhaps both are needed for the time being—a “belt and braces” approach.