The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has created a new benchmarking tool for fisheries working to improve their practices to better meet MSC standards for sustainability.
The tool, which the MSC calls the Benchmarking and Monitoring Tool (BMT), is geared toward fisheries that have engaged in fisheries improvement projects (FIPs) to improve sustainability. Those fisheries that intend to seek MSC certification can use the tool to tailor their efforts to meet MSC standards, the MSC said in a statement.
“The BMT can help retailers, buyers, funders, NGOs and FIP coordinators better understand the improvements a fishery is making as it works towards meeting the MSC standard,” said Cassie Leisk, MSC’s fishery improvement project engagement manager. “By providing tools for stakeholders working with FIPs, we are enabling more fisheries to progress to the stage where they can meet the MSC standard for sustainable fishing.”
The tracking and benchmarking tool helps FIPs measure progress toward an end goal, something Mark MacPherson of Anova Food can appreciate.
“As a company really entrenched in FIPs, to have a tool that we can use to consistently benchmark and track our projects, report on the milestones and gauge FIPs performance is phenomenal,” he said.
