We're shocked that Animal Rebellion has targeted the Marine Stewardship Council in this way.  

The MSC is a not-for-profit organisation, working with NGOs, scientists, governments and the fishing industry to protect the ocean, endangered species and fish stocks. We empower retailers and consumers to choose seafood from fishers who are taking care of our precious ocean. 

Targeting the MSC’s office will do nothing to stop fishing – instead it hurts an organisation making a positive difference. It is wholly unacceptable that our staff who are working to protect the oceans, should be intimidated in this way.  

Animal Rebellion claims its action was motivated by the film Seaspiracy, but as many credible organisations and scientists have recognised, the film makes many false and misleading claims – including about sustainable fishing and the MSC.  

Tackling overfishing is a complex global challenge which MSC has been working on for more than two decades.  This stunt draws attention but Animal Rebellion’s call to end fishing is over-simplistic and fails to acknowledge the importance of fishing in feeding and sustaining billions of people around the world.  

Read the MSC’s full response to Seaspiracy >

Notes to editors

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, more than 39 million people are employed directly in fishing and more than 3 billion people depend on seafood as a primary source of protein.

According to the recently published Blue Food Assessment, global demand for fish and aquatic foods is expected to double by 2050, and blue foods will have an essential role to play in the shift towards healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems. 

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit organisation which sets globally recognised, science-based standards for sustainable fishing.

The MSC’s blue ecolabel and certification program recognises and rewards sustainable fishing practices and is helping create a more sustainable seafood market. It is the only wild-capture fisheries certification and ecolabelling program that meets best practice requirements set by both the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and ISEAL, the global membership association for sustainability standards.

Today 17% of the global wild capture seafood comes from fisheries either certified or in assessment to the MSC Fisheries Standard. Through its Ocean Stewardship Fund, the MSC reinvests funds in projects helping to safeguard our oceans.