The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) today launched a second round of public consultation on its proposals for improving its environmental standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. This online consultation will close on 26 October 2013.
This is the second, and final, opportunity for stakeholders to offer their views on proposals for changes to the fishery standard. Stakeholders will also have the opportunity to comment on other proposals for program improvements, including changes to the fisheries assessment process designed to reduce the time, cost and complexity of certification assessments. An early stage public consultation on the fisheries standard review topics took place in spring this year.
Meeting global best practice in standard setting
The MSC has committed to undertake periodic reviews of its standards in order to ensure its program remains relevant to stakeholders and continues to meet international best practice. This is in line with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) ecolabelling guidelines and the International Social, Environment, Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL) standard setting code.
The MSC expects that the current changes under review will be adopted by the MSC Board at its meeting in July 2014. The intention is that the next significant review of the standard will take place no sooner than 2019, to ensure stability and consistency in the fishery assessment process.
Over the last year, the MSC has consulted over 100 fisheries experts, scientists, environmental organisations, governments, fisheries and commercial partners to help inform the content of the review. A number of stakeholder workshops and consultation seminars will take place across the globe this year and these, together with the online public consultation, will provide useful feedback that will help shape the MSC sustainable and credible fisheries standard.
How to take part in the consultation
The second round of public consultation opens on 11th September and closes on 26th October 2013.
You can get involved by participating in:
| Date | Activity | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11 September - 26 October 2013 | Online public consultation | http://improvements.msc.org/ |
| Ongoing | Sign up for the MSC program improvements update | http://improvements.msc.org/ |
| 25 -26 September 2013 | Online seminars | If you wish to attend, please register at [email protected] |
| 7 - 8 October 2013 | Stakeholder consultation workshop | Santiago, Chile |
| 9 -13 December 2013 | Become an observer for the independent MSC stakeholder council and technical advisory board meeting | Lisbon, Portugal: please register at [email protected] |
Review of the Chain of Custody standard
In 2014, the MSC will begin the process to review its supply chain standard. A number of chain of custody topics are included in the current public consultation to help inform the periodical review next year.