Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to the next level. The 'Give Swordfish a Break', 'Caviar Emptor' and 'L'Autre
Caviar' campaigns have grown in the US and around the globe, and have won
significant media attention, shifts in consumer behaviour, and changes in
government policy.
(iv)
Markets efforts
: Markets-based campaigns exert consumer pressure to ef-
fect change in the vertical distribution system, normally at the retail or pro-
ducer level. While a number of Alliance partners are currently implementing
or planning such efforts, one specific example is the Coastal Alliance for
Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) in Canada (www.farmedanddangerous.org).
CAAR's 'Farmed and Dangerous' campaign, in the coalition's own words,
encourages
retailers like Whole Foods and Safeway to do the responsible thing and stop
selling conventionally raised farmed salmon until it is produced in a responsi-
ble way: proven to be safe for the environment and safe for human consump-
tion. When powerful companies like Whole Foods and Safeway make a stand
and say that they refuse to sell a certain product because of concerns over how
it is produced, they send a clear message that it is time for industry to reform
harmful practices (www.farmedanddangerous.org/about/FAD.html).
CAAR educates and informs consumers about farmed salmon and alterna-
tives, while working in parallel to make retailers and distributors aware of
its consumer campaign, and to recruit them to its cause. At time of writing,
over 150 restaurants and retailers across British Columbia have committed
to not selling farmed salmon. Similar campaigns exist across North America
and Europe, including a well-publicised 2006 effort by Greenpeace UK that
encouraged more environmentally responsible sourcing policies by several
leading UK supermarket chains.
(v)
Fisheries certification
: The types of efforts described in the previous four pil-
lars generate 'issue saliency' for sustainable seafood, raising awareness and
paving the way for consumer acceptance of ecolabelled seafood products. In-
dependent, third-party certification schemes build on that increased salience
by providing consumers and buyers with the confidence that the products
they purchase have been rigorously and independently assessed to a credible
standard of sustainability. In addition, certification schemes typically result in
the use of an approved, point-of-purchase logo (the ecolabel) that can effec-
tively brand the product - in this case sustainable seafood - to ensure instant
recognition by the consuming public. Perhaps the most famous certification
and ecolabel for seafood remains the 'dolphin-friendly' label on cans of tuna.
However, since 1997, a more broad-based initiative has sought to develop and
implement certification criteria that are more robust and relevant to all types
of wild-caught seafood. The MSC - jointly established by WWF and the in-
ternational consumer products conglomerate Unilever (which owns the Birds
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