Editor’s note: The following is a clip from the blog of Brendan May, founder of The Robertsbridge Group, an UK environmental consulting firm, and CEO of the Marine Stewardship Council from 1999 to 2004. Click here to access the blog.
Some rather troubling news for eco-labels this month with the decision by the Alaskan salmon fishing industry to withdraw from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) program. A decade ago, Alaska salmon became the first fishery of serious scale (with due apologies to Western Australian rock lobster and Thames herring) to become MSC certified and supermarket chains dutifully snapped up this welcome sustainable alternative to its tasteless and ecologically devastating farmed cousin. It was a great moment. Or so we thought.
The reason for the decision to leave, says the industry, is that the process of having the fishery re-certified every five years is too cumbersome and expensive. It cites a 50-year history of responsible management, and claims that there are other ways in which it can demonstrate its product’s sustainability credentials. Importantly, some seafood companies argue that the competitive advantage of certification is waning as more and more products bearing the MSC stamp hit the marketplace.
At first sight, this decision seems totally kamikaze from a commercial point of view. Just as supermarket plans, some of which I have had a hand in designing, call for 100 percent certified sustainable seafood by this year or that, one of the flagship products that will them help meet those targets pulls out of the most respected certification program around. But no industry would be stupid enough to pull out of an eco-labeling system without gauging market reaction first. Would it?
