The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has raised concerns about the potential first-ever Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of an Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery.
The certification process first started in August 2018, and even then raised eyebrows in the NGO community, with Pew Charitable Trusts opposing the potential certification soon after it was announced. WWF has also objected to the certification in the past, calling out the MSC as recently as January.
In its latest objection, the WWF has called into question whether the Accredited Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) conducting the assessment of the bluefin industry is behaving in an unbiased manner.
“As WWF’s formal objection against the first certification of Atlantic bluefin tuna continues, the Accredited Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) conducting the assessment is called out for lack of impartiality,” the WWF wrote in a press release.
The latest issue came as the CAB, Control Union, didn’t make a single change to any scorings in response to stakeholder concerns expressed in the Notice of Objection. In addition, an independent audit revealed potential “red flags,” according to WWF.
“WWF questions the management of impartiality by the CAB as illustrated during the independent audit by the ASI (Assurance Service International), the MSC assurance partner,” the WWF wrote. “The audit has resulted in a red flag being raised for numerous points, for instance, Control Union assured the fishery that it would be the first bluefin tuna fishery to receive an MSC certification when the assessor is required to be independent, objective and impartial.”
WWF has called on the MSC to stop the certification process, in light of both the potential impartiality issues and potential uncertainties regarding the species’ stock assessment.
“WWF and other stakeholders have advocated for scientifically rigorous, transparent, and credible assessments within the MSC system for some years and we have still not seen significant improvements,” Giuseppe Di Carlo, spokesperson for the WWF, said. “Pressure from the industry to get the first sustainable bluefin tuna on the market risks there being a premature certification, and will sadly come at the expense of the species.”
Photo courtesy of the World Wildlife Fund
