In 2010, the bluefin tuna was removed from menus by top chefs and in high-end restaurants as environmentalists warned that the species were on the verge of extinction. This year, the Atlantic bluefin tuna, which can grow up to 40 years, has increased into healthier populations. However, a new threat arises as a Japanese bluefin fishery waits to be awarded an internationally recognized ecolabel, conservationists fear.
On this day, June 1, a judge will hear evidence from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Japanese fishery and assessors for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to determine if the ecolabel will be given to the company. If Usufuku Honten Co. Ltd., the Japanese fishery, gets approval, they will sell the very first Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified bluefin tuna to customers with the marking that they are a well-managed sustainable fishery.
Francesca Willow, a cultural theorist, artist, and environmentalist shared in her blog, Ethical Unicorn, explaining that MSC-labelling isn't quite sustainable. In 1997, the organization was founded when the industry collapsed in Canada five years earlier.
The industry that was once worth $700 million per year was severely hit when cod fishing was banned. The drop in cod populations, as well as tuna and swordfish, proved that the government failed to regulate fishing.
Unilever and WWF created the MSC in 1997 and drafted the 'Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing.' By 2000, fisheries began receiving MSC certifications with products getting their blue fish label. Unilever eventually left the program while MSC still attempts to bridge the gap between the fishing industry and the environment.
Willow explains that MSC doesn't actually certify the fisheries, companies that want the label to hire a commercial auditing company to represent them. Susanna Fuller from Canada's Ecology Action Centre points out that MSC labels are misleading.
Accurate Labels
Purchasing products with the blue label is 'not buying something that's sustainable now,' explained Fuller. She said that if the label were accurate, MSC has certified fisheries under certain conditions.
'Those conditions spell out that the fishermen will have to change the way they operate or study how their methods are affecting the environment - or both. But they have years to comply with those conditions after the fisheries have already been certified sustainable.' Gerry Leape, an oceans specialist who works with the Pew Charitable Trusts, agrees that 'it's misleading to put a label of sustainability on a product where you still don't have the basic requirements.'
Another issue is ecolabelling, headed by the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN). their label claims that the product or service 'is certified against a science-based standard. Requirements and product categories can differ but all standards address multiple environmental and health issues which can include toxicity, air quality, energy and water use, recyclability, use of natural resources, and other areas of concern.'
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MSC Standards
Giuseppe di Carlo of the WWF Mediterranean marine initiative believes that market fraud would occur upon certification of the Japanese fishery. 'It is the first bluefin tuna fishery, so every fishery afterward will be benchmarked by the same standards.'
Shana Miller from the Ocean Foundation shared that yes bluefin tuna population today are better than what it was 10 years ago, ' but are we at the point where the population has recovered? We don't know. ICCAT scientists don't know. And if they don't know, how can the MSC know they have recovered?'
Dr. Rohan Currey, the chief science and standards officer at MSC defended that 'we cannot prejudge the outcome of this assessment - but fisheries only get certified if they can demonstrate, through evidence, that they meet the MSC's robust standard. Clearly, this is vital for a stock such as the eastern Atlantic blue which has suffered historic overexploitation.'
