Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the standard should not be based on the best available technical knowledge, but the
technical analysis of knowledge should be applied in an appropriate way. This is im-
portant because, amongst other reasons (below), there is a risk that the increasingly
reductionist nature of the scientific process, and scientific opinion, will divert the fo-
cus of an assessment (and possibly the standard depending on how it is constructed)
towards the scientific challenges of the day, rather than the significant sustainability
issues for the industry and the product. If this occurs, it will reduce the credibility
of the endorsement and the incentive programme as a whole (Auld & Bull 2003).
10.5
Verification
Seafood ecolabelling programmes may choose to focus on either a broad range of
issues, or on a narrow set of specific issues of relevance to particular markets or
seafood industries. Some, such as the 'dolphin-safe' claim, are applied to tuna and
other pelagic species that are caught in nets, while others focus on broader environ-
mental issues, such as the Marine Stewardship Program's claim of 'well managed
and sustainable' for wild-capture fisheries. Underpinning all of the assessments is
a 'model', or an approach, that is specified in the standard and in procedures to
be used in verifying if a fishery or producer meets the standard. The verification
model varies across the different programmes, but without a clearly defined ap-
proach to verification there may be inconsistencies between assessments within a
single programme, and the programme may be accused of applying their standard
inconsistently between products or producers.
In the case of seafood sustainability, there are three fundamental dimensions of
the problem to be assessed within the verification process - the ecological sys-
tem within which fishing or production takes place, the impacts of the fishing or
production venture on that system and the concept of sustainability in the use of
the natural resources used or affected in the process of capture or production (the
five issues of Section 10.2 above). An ideal verification model will attempt to en-
sure that verification assesses activities of the fishery or producer in each of these
dimensions relative to the standard in a manner that is repeatable, equivalent and
consistent each time it is applied, no matter what type of fishery or aquaculture
situation is being assessed.
In assessing ecological sustainability of a fishery or an aquaculture venture, the
following six ecological aspects of the fishery or venture should be assessed within
the verification:
What level of information is available and used within the management system?
Have the risks from the fishery/aquaculture activities been determined, and the
impacts assessed/verified in the fishery?
Have appropriate strategies been devised and implemented to avoid or mitigate
the impact of the risks?
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