Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the benefits of certification (premiums, enhanced credibility or market access)
often not being passed down to the producer but shared disproportionately within
the supply chain;
the lack of certifying bodies from developing countries; and
the certification challenges being too great for small operations in developing
countries.
These obstacles to the success of certification schemes among small-scale pro-
ducers in developing countries should not be underestimated and they are already
influencing the spread of certification in the shrimp industry. For example, the
majority of farms that have entered the Global Aquaculture Alliance's BAP pro-
gramme are large ventures, often parts of vertically integrated business structures
(www.aquaculturecertification.org). Small-scale farmers, particularly common in
Asia, are constrained because of the associated costs and because of the require-
ments for improved record keeping and some management procedures. The solution
is for small farmers to come together in clusters or co-operatives and seek certifica-
tion in groups, thereby spreading the costs of certification among many participants
and promoting communal responsibility for the environment (Boyd et al. 2006).
Despite these concerns, and the natural reluctance of fish and shrimp farmers to
warm to schemes that appear to be imposed by distant retailers and multi-national
corporations, there is evidence that voluntary standards gradually bring tangible
benefits. Iizuka (2006) analysed the impact of standards on the Chilean salmon
industry, where she views them as a new platform of innovation and learning,
concluding optimistically: 'Although the process of compliance with standards
begins with a one-way power relationship and associated flow of knowledge and
information, such one-way flows may become consolidated into two-way inter-
linkages when power balances themselves reverse with the development of local
capability in catching up countries. In such a context, standards increasingly act as
an interface where diverse knowledge from horizontal and vertical relationships -
local and global, tacit and codified and user and producer - intercept and converge,
becoming a platform of interactions and learning for those involved.'
Significant public policy questions arise when third parties begin to certify private
sector fish farming (Lee & Connelly 2006). These questions have already been
raised with regard to the work of the Marine Stewardship Council, the leading
independent body that sets standards for sustainability in wild fisheries. The issues
that society should consider include these below:
(a)
Governments have traditionally been responsible for managing their nations'
natural resources. Part of the management responsibilities includes commu-
nicating to society the state of those resources and what plans are in place
to address any user conflicts. When third parties become certifiers of private
sector performance, do those third parties become the de facto communicators
of the state of the resource? That is, if a certifier deems a fishery or fish farm to
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