Developing an International Standard for the Trade in Live Reef Food Fish - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 184

Developing countries, and even developed countries, do not have enough funds
to create, implement and enforce enough laws and management plans to protect
all reefs all the time. Coastal communities with incentives to manage and conserve
reefs are the only hope for widespread, ongoing, effective and financially sustain-
able reef conservation and management. With market incentives and independent
certification, coastal communities involved in the LRFFT will have motives for
becoming the guardians, stewards and enforcers of management and conservation,
often in remote areas rarely visited by the government.
Codes of conduct and industry standards can be given more authority when
brought under a third-party certification programme. While such certification pro-
grammes carry the endorsement of governments, these programmes are usually born
out of strategic partnerships between business and environmental groups and are
often brokered by conservation-oriented NGOs. The goal of achieving sustainable
resource use in the LRFFT may be greatly supported through this incentive-based
approach that aims to reward businesses for compliance with an agreed set of princi-
ples or standards. The LRFFT Standard makes a significant contribution to this, and
provides the platform for the development of a widespread system of certification
for the trade.
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