Our new global blog has launched. Seafood Matters will host a diverse array of authoritative voices on sustainable seafood topics. It will also explain our sometimes complex standards and principles; introduce some of the people who work hard behind the scenes at the MSC; provide a wide range of perspectives on the urgent issues facing our oceans; explore species we all love, offer photoessays from MSC certified fisheries, and of course, offer tasty suggestions for all the MSC labelled fish you can eat.

Transformative impact

"We work in partnership to create models for intelligent stewardship," writes Rebecca Fordham, MSC global communications director in her first blog article. “We work to inspire change and create a market pull among consumers and suppliers – an appreciation of the economic and environmental value of sustainably sourced fish has the best chance of a transformative impact on the world's oceans."

World Ocean Summit

Rebecca's post also comes at a key time, just ahead of February 2014's Economist World Ocean Summit in San Francisco, where pressing issues of governance and sustainability will be the focus.

Keynotes from US secretary of state, John Kerry, and HRH the Prince of Wales, show how seriously we need to take the state of our world’s oceans. While Maria Damanaki, the EU commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, and Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN environment programme, should be able to explain how they plan to deliver.

"The challenges of creating and executing these approaches are enormous," the agenda points out, "requiring political consensus and commitment, clear legal mandates, cutting-edge science, and an engaged and inclusive civil society where all stakeholders are consulted and share ownership of the process."