Sabine Daume, Jo-anne McCrea, Sascha Brand-Gardner
bio.inspecta Pty Ltd, Centre for Seafood Certification, Suite 1/101-103 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill VIC 3068, Australia
Correspondence: sabine.daume@bio-inspecta.com
Increasingly, seafood producers are adopting an approach of positive reinforcement by clearly identifying and demonstrating legitimate and sustainable production that has minimal impact on the environment. Seafood certification programs like the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship council (ASC) provide one such mechanism.
The MSC and ASC released a joint seaweed standard in 2018 realising the uniqueness of seaweed production and focussing on both environmental as well as social aspects. Apart from regulators which focus on monitoring, control and surveillance, voluntary standards like the MSC and ASC can be most impacting, as they are effective in the marketplace.
Drawn from our group’s collective 20+ years in the seafood certification industry, we will explain the assessment and certification process at a level that will allow
- Producers and supply chain actors to assess operational characteristics and market environments that lend themselves to the successful adoption of such schemes;
- Producers and supply chain actors to prepare their operations, staff and stakeholders, in order to most effectively and efficiently navigate the process;
- Regulators and policy makers to understand their role, and how to effectively support industry in certification aspirations, and
- Industry and government to understand the ways to enhance the benefits and values of certification.