Developing an International Standard for the Trade in Live Reef Food Fish - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 181

and to achieve compliance and overcome issues such as corruption and the potential
for fraudulent reporting are all major difficulties. A number of other limitations and
challenges for applying the certification approach to developing-country fisheries
have been identified, including:
the potential for distorting existing practices and livelihoods;
creation of market incentives that favour the export of certified fish; and
the need to establish criteria that are equally achievable for fishers in developing
and developed countries (Gardiner & Viswanathan 2004).
Nonetheless, certification programmes can be tailored to accommodate such char-
acteristics. For example, community-based certification programmes present one
alternative approach for dealing with the small-scale artisanal nature of the LRFFT
(Pomeroy 1995, Jayme et al. 2003, Novy-Hildesley & Short 2003).
The challenges inherent in introducing a third-party certification programme into
the LRRFT are not restricted to the supply end of the market chain. The critical
factor that determines the success or failure of any certification scheme is consumer
acceptance and participation. Empirical studies have shown that consumers in the
US and Europe are willing to pay more for food that is certified as coming from a
sustainable source (Wessells et al. 1999, Johnston et al . 2001). Results from these
studies suggest, however, that consumers will continue to prefer certified products
only while the price premium associated with that product is not excessively large.
The response of consumers to ecolabelling schemes varies greatly among regions
and countries. Most future expansion in demand for fishery products is anticipated
to occur in Asia and Latin America. Traditionally, these consumers were regarded
as not very responsive to ecolabelling of fish and fishery products (Gardiner &
Viswanathan 2004). However, recent research suggests consumers may be willing
to pay a premium for sustainably produced LRFF (Chan et al . 2006).
On the supply side, an important question is the extent to which producing a
certified sustainable product would increase production costs. In addition to pro-
duction costs there are downstream costs associated with maintaining the 'chain
of custody' required to ensure certified commodities are not contaminated with
non-certified commodities (Sedjo & Swallow 2002). It can be argued that a price
premium paid by consumers may defray these additional costs but this is contingent
on the product being sold into a receptive consumer market. Alternatives have been
suggested for developing-country fisheries, including labels of geographic origin
and fair trade labelling schemes. The latter ensures that artisanal fishers' livelihoods
are maintained and that fishers are rewarded for non-destructive, environmentally
selective fishing methods (Gardiner & Viswanathan 2004). The issue of cost of
certification has particular relevance in fisheries such as LRFF fisheries, which are
mostly artisanal and have complex market chains involving numerous agents and
intermediaries (Sadovy et al. 2003).
One area of the LRFFT where the project team considered certification could
be more immediately feasible was in the mariculture sector. While mariculture is