Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ideal will be to develop a comprehensive set of quantitative metrics, as well as
qualitative indicators of change. Metrics are likely to focus on key issues that are of
most concern to many stakeholders, including the status of target stocks, the fishing
impacts on bycatch and endangered, threatened or protected species, and impacts
on habitats.
4.7
Proof of concept
4.7.1
Retailers
The increased supply, whilst still relatively small in terms of total wild-capture
consumption, has prompted several retailers to significantly increase their commit-
ment to sourcing MSC certified and ecolabelled seafood. This commitment in turn
creates an additional 'demand pull' to attract yet more fisheries into the assessment
process. Retailers such as Whole Foods Market in the US, Migros and Coop in
Switzerland, Sainsbury's and Waitrose in the UK have consistently stocked MSC
fish products. However, in recent years these commitments have become more am-
bitious and proactive. Processors such as Young's Seafoods in the UK have now
placed MSC at the heart of their procurement and marketing strategies, aiming to
be the first to market with new products from newly certified species and requiring
the use of the logo on 100% of products from MSC-certified stocks.
In February 2006, the US retail giant Wal-Mart announced that it would only
purchase wild-caught seafood certified to MSC standard within 5 years. The com-
pany's intention is to work with existing suppliers to encourage them to embrace
sustainable practices. Rather than dramatically switching its supply chain, Wal-
Mart has invited WWF and Conservation International to help prepare its supply
fisheries for assessment against the MSC standard. This is a practical example of
a retailer using its leverage through the supply chain to achieve an outcome that
will benefit marine conservation. Equally, fisheries can see a clear market incentive
to become MSC certified. The ripple effect of the Wal-Mart announcement will
be a greater availability and diversity of MSC-certified seafood across the whole
marketplace, not just within Wal-Mart.
In the UK, in the same period, consumer awareness of overfishing was on the
rise, fuelled by reports by Greenpeace, the Marine Conservation Society and the
National Consumer Council that created supermarket 'league tables' and exposed
poor practices in fish sourcing. Asda, Wal-Mart's UK subsidiary, matched its parent
company's commitment to source seafood from MSC-certified fisheries and further
announcements have followed from other retailers. At a Sainsbury's conference
for fish suppliers in December 2006, the company presented its sourcing policy,
which fast-tracks seafood from MSC-certified fisheries. More recently, Sainsbury's
estimated its sales of MSC-certified fish increased by over 200% in the last year
and new products are expected to push this growth further. In January 2007, Marks
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