Eco-labelled seafood doesn't pass the small test, report's authors suggest
Margaret Munro
September 2, 2010
Edmonton Journal
An international program that purports to certify only sustainably harvested fish is failing to protect the environment and needs radical reform, says a highly critical report released Wednesday.
The certification program is run by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), created in 1997 by the World Wildlife Fund and Unilever, one of the world's largest seafood retailers. It has certified 94 fisheries that account for seven per cent of the global catch, including several in Canadian waters.
But many of the MSC's claims are nothing but "eco-babble" and very misleading, says Jennifer Jacquet, a University of B.C. researcher and co-author of a report in the journal Nature this week.
The non-profit council is based in London, England.
Its blue "eco-labels" can be found on seafood sold at Whole Foods Markets, Walmart and many stores in Europe.
Controversy has been brewing over the certification program for years, but the MSC's recent decision to slap its eco-label on an Antarctic krill fishery prompted the researchers to spell out their concerns, said Jacquet, a resource management specialist who authored the report with noted UBC fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly and colleagues in the U.S. and Italy.
Read the full story in the Edmonton Journal
Posted September 2nd, 2010
