Case Study 3: MSC Certification of the Alaska Pollock Fishery - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 281

September 2006 and March 2007 that included MSC-labelled Alaska pollock. Also,
German retailer Lidl, and fish processor Deutsche See, launched MSC-labelled
Alaska pollock products in late 2006 and early 2007.
The Swiss fish processor, Coraya, launched five Alaska pollock surimi products
in January 2007. Those products are being carried in the supermarket chains Migros
and Coop. Also, noteworthy is the promotion by Japanese retailer, Aeon, of Alaska
pollock products, including pollock roe, carrying the MSC logo. Given the lead
time required to market test products, develop new packaging and plan promotions,
it is impressive that so many new initiatives have been undertaken in the 2 years
since the pollock fishery was certified.
The experiences to date suggest at least two interesting developments. First,
Europe appears to be a rapidly maturing market for ecolabelled products. Sustain-
ability might be of equal concern to major seafood purchasers in Asia, Europe
and the US, but use of the MSC logo is more prevalent in Europe than it is in the
US or Asian markets. Second, Alaska pollock is being increasingly identified by
species name in a marketplace that now emphasises sourcing of sustainable prod-
ucts. In the past, packaging was much less likely to identify whitefish by species
name.
Coincident with the certification of Alaska pollock, the industry formed the
Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP). GAPP works with major whitefish
purchasers to differentiate Alaska pollock from other whitefish species, principally
pollock harvested in Russian waters. Russian pollock is often frozen after harvest,
shipped to China for processing then re-frozen. A study conducted for GAPP reports
that Alaska pollock, which are processed at-sea or onshore and then frozen, are
superior to twice-frozen pollock in more than 40 categories, including tenderness,
flakiness and flavour (www.alaskapollock.com). MSC certification has provided
GAPP the opportunity to complement its message about high quality Alaska pollock
with a similarly strong message about sustainability.

13.7 The MSC 'reform agenda'

As discussed above, the MSC programme has gained good acceptance among
major seafood buyers for sustainably produced and certified fish products. How-
ever, participating fisheries continue to be concerned about the practicality of the
programme. Another area of concern for the MSC is acceptance of the MSC assess-
ments in the NGO community, particularly in the US. Controversy within the NGO
community about the real effectiveness of the MSC programme resulted in two
separate major evaluations of the MSC in 2004. These assessed the organisational
aspects of the MSC, and specifically whether a market-based approach featuring
independent, third-party evaluations of fisheries was viable. These two independent
evaluations, the 'Wildhavens' report (Highleyman et al . 2004) and the 'Bridgespan'
report (Bridgespan 2004), have significantly influenced the MSC's direction.