The Marine Stewardship Council on Monday launched its new fishery assessment method, which is designed to improve the quality and consistency of the London-based nonprofit's assessment process, used to certify fisheries and well managed and sustainable.
The previous method required independent certifiers to create an assessment tree for each fishery. The new method provides a default tree that will be used as the basis for all new assessments, so fisheries know beforehand what will be asked of them to meet MSC standards. In addition, the assessment tree is supported by comprehensive guidance that outlines to certifiers how MSC standards should be interpreted.
"This launch of the standardized assessment trees, with 31 default indicators and scoring guideposts, is the culmination of a two-year intensive effort to take the world's most rigorous standard for fisheries sustainability and create a tool that makes application of that standard even better," says Chris Ninnes, MSC deputy chief executive. "The new methodology is the biggest change in the MSC program since the standard was created back in the 1990s. The new methodology doesn't raise or lower the bar but it will improve the consistency of assessments by defining the assessment trees from the outset."
The method will be phased in over the next two years and will effect fisheries entering the full assessment process after July.
