MSC opens final round of consultation on fishery standard review

THE MARINE Stewardship Council (MSC) has 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 11^th September and closes on 26^th October 2013.

You can be involved by participating in

11^th September – 26^th October 2013	Online public consultation	http://improvements.msc.org/
On-going	Sign up for the MSC program improvements update	http://improvements.msc.org/
25^th – 26^th September 2013	Online webinars (Suitable for all global time zones)	If you wish to attend, please register atstandards@msc.org
7^th – 8^th October 2013	Stakeholder consultation workshop	Santiago, Chile
9^th – 13^th December 2013	Become an observer for the independent MSC stakeholder council and technical advisory board meeting	Lisbon, PortugalIf you wish to attend, please register at standards@msc.org

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.