Engage with a fishery assessment

Assessments against the MSC Fisheries Standard are open to anyone who wants to provide input. 

Stakeholders can include scientists, fishery managers, seafood processors, government representatives, community members, conservationists or others with an interest in an assessment outcome.

Why get involved?

As a stakeholder, you provide an essential source of information that enables the certification body (CAB) to conduct a meaningful assessment.

Your input helps ensure:

• the issues important to you or your organisation are taken into consideration in the assessment
• the assessment of the fishery is well-informed and comprehensive
• all relevant information is considered
  

Getting involved

Details of fishery assessments and the CAB are listed on the MSC’s Track a Fishery website and in our weekly Fisheries Update email. If you are interested in participating in an assessment, please contact the CAB. 

Stakeholders can provide input via the Stakeholder Input Template at specific points during a fishery assessment (detailed below).

Please note you must provide input during the early stages of the assessment (the Announcement Comment Draft Report or during the site visit) to be considered a registered stakeholder. This will ensure you can comment during the later stages or submit an objection.

The fishery assessment stages

1. Assessment preparation
   
   The CAB gathers information about the fishery, such as technical papers, reports and data, and assigns an assessment team.  
   
   The team analyses this information and produces draft scoring against the MSC Fisheries Standard, which is compiled into the Announcement Comment Draft Report.
   
   
2. Assessment announcement and stakeholder comments
   
   The CAB publishes the Announcement Comment Draft Report on Track a Fishery. Details of the assessment and upcoming site visit are also shared via the MSC’s Fisheries Update email.
   
   The report includes rationale for the draft scores and identifies where further information is required. The scores are not final and may be changed following the site visit and provision of additional information.
   
   Find out more about the MSC Fisheries Standard (v2.1) performance indicators.
   
   At this stage you can:
   
   Comment on the Announcement Comment Draft Report and provide any additional information using the stakeholder input template. Your comments should include any evidence, references or information to support your comments and focus on the draft scoring and any information gaps in the assessment.
   
    - If the fishery is being assessed for the first time, you have 60 days to provide comments from the date the Announcement Comment Draft Report is published.
   
    - If it is a re-assessment, you have 30 days to comment from the date the report is published.
   
   Email the completed stakeholder input template to the assessment team. The team’s contact details can be found on Track a Fishery, under the in the ‘Contacts’ tab of your fishery of interest. 
   
   
3. Site visit
   
   The assessment team interviews the fishery managers and participating stakeholders, and considers all information and issues raised.
   
   This information is used to update the fishery’s scores in the Announcement Comment Draft Report.
   
   At this stage you can:
   
   Discuss the fishery with the assessment team, raise any concerns and provide information relevant to the fishery. The site visit can be attended in person or remotely. 
   
   Remember, if you haven't provided input on the Announcement Comment Draft Report or taken part in the site visit, you are not considered a registered stakeholder, and you cannot comment at a later stage or object to the results of the assessment. 
   
   
4. Client and peer review
   
   The certification body produces a Client and Peer Review Draft Report summarising:
   
    - The fishery’s performance against each performance indicator in the MSC Fisheries Standard
    - The fishery’s average score across each Principle of the Standard
    - The proposed certification outcome
    - The details of any conditions to improve the fishery’s performance.
   
   Independent experts (typically fisheries scientists) known as peer reviewers are appointed to review the draft report. Third-party scientists approve the selection of peer reviewers to ensure there are no conflicts of interest.
   
   Stakeholders do not input at this stage.
   
5. Public review of draft report
   
   A Public Comment Draft Report is published on Track a Fishery and shared via the MSC Fisheries Updates email.
   
   This includes the assessment team’s responses to comments from the fishery, peer-reviewers and registered stakeholders. It also includes a draft determination of whether the fishery is recommended for certification.
   
   At this stage you can:
   
   Provide feedback on the Public Comment Draft Report. The CAB will contact you to submit comments and any supporting evidence.
   
   You have 30 days to provide comments and must use the same stakeholder input template used to comment on the Announcement Comment Draft Report.
   
   You can download your input template from the fishery's assessment pages on Track a Fishery. This will include the CAB’s response to earlier comments, which you can follow up on.
   
   Remember, if you haven't provided input on the Announcement Comment Draft Report or taken part in the site visit, you are not considered a registered stakeholder, and you cannot comment at a later stage or object to the results of the assessment.
   
   
6. Final draft report
   
   Once the assessment team has considered everyone’s input, they publish a Final Draft Report. This includes the team’s final determination as to whether the fishery should be certified. 
   
   At this stage you can:
   
   If you are a registered stakeholder and wish to object to the CAB’s determination, you have 15 working days after the Final Draft Report is published to submit a Notice of Objection to the MSC via [email protected].
   
   

   Find out more about the objections process
   

7. Certification
   
   The CAB publishes the Public Certification Report on Track a Fishery, outlining the assessment process and any improvements that the fishery needs to make (conditions of certification). 
   
   Certification lasts for a maximum of five years, subject to surveillance audits.

Using the stakeholder input template

The stakeholder input template should be used to provide written comments to the CAB on publication of the following reports:

• The Announcement Comment Draft Report
• Public Comment Draft Report

Once completed, the template should be emailed to the CAB, who must review and respond to your comments, stating if any changes have been made and the rationale for their decision. 

The CAB will upload the template to Track a Fishery when the Public Comment Draft Report is published. You can download the template to respond to their comments and to comment on the Public Comment Draft Report.

The CAB will provide a further response to your comments and the template will be included in the Final Draft Report as an appendix. 

Objecting to a certification

If you believe the CAB did not follow the assessment procedure correctly, you can  object to the certification.

The objections process is managed by an independent adjudicator and ASI, the regulatory body which provides oversight of CAB activity. 

Find out more about the objections process

Submitting complaints on other topics

There are other mechanisms available for submitting complaints about the conduct of a certificate holder or a CAB, or for issues which do not meet the eligibility criteria for objections.

If you would like to raise an issue relating to the MSC standards or assessment process, we encourage you to contact [email protected]. All issues will be reviewed by the MSC and taken forward into the next standard review, where appropriate.