The Marine Stewardship Council on Monday announced that its board approved a new set of actions to its procedures and methodologies that had been in development for months.
The new set of actions include increased resources for and focus on training of certifiers, fishery assessment team members and peer reviews, a comprehensive review and consolidation of scheme documentation, and a creation of standardized pre-assessment tool.
“Our board’s top priority is to continue to improve our assessment program,” said MSC Chairman Will Martin. “We’re listening very closely to our partners, and we continue the work of developing and revising policies, procedures and systems to ensure the program keeps up with current thinking and best practice.”
Earlier this month, a report published in the journal Nature criticized the MSC of certifying fisheries as sustainable when they do not merit such recognition. Authored by six scientists from the University of British Columbia’s Fisheries Centre and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego, the report called for major reform to the London-based nonprofit.
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