Ecolabelling of Seafood: The Basic Concepts - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 4

message that they can confidently purchase the labelled product in preference to an
unlabelled product if they wish to give their support to seafood produced in ways
that have less ecological impact on fish stocks and the environment. The direct
inference is that such products are more ecologically sustainable. An ecolabel may
be applied to a product after it has been certified as being in compliance with the
rules and criteria of an ecolabelling programme.
Certification is the outcome of an assessment process that confirms (verifies)
that a product complies with the sustainability standard and a set of criteria estab-
lished by the incentive programme. A certification of compliance may be used as
part of an ecolabel programme, and indeed a certificate may be issued, but not all
certification systems lead to the award of an ecolabel. Some certification systems
may not have any direct relationship to retail marketing issues, and may be used
for purely industry or regulatory purposes (such as to demonstrate compliance with
government requirements for safe food-processing procedures). So, while ecola-
belling is normally based on some form of assessment process and a consequent
certification, the process of assessment leading to a certification of compliance
does not necessarily always lead to an ecolabel. The essential difference between
certification and ecolabelling is the form of market-based incentive - influencing
consumer purchases through the influence of the ecolabel at the point of retail sale
and influencing purchasing patterns through the provision of other forms of product
endorsement or buying recommendation.
Buying guides and ratings are closely related to ecolabels, and while they consti-
tute a different form of product endorsement, like ecolabels they also act to influence
consumer-purchasing patterns and are designed to create market-based incentives.
Buying guides and ratings provide information about a product to consumers or to
resellers through advertising and seafood awareness programmes, using such tools
as wallet/purse cards, brochures and websites, where 'buy' or 'don't buy' advice is
usually provided. While these product recommendations are not normally affixed
to the actual seafood product at the point of sale (and may not be supported by
producers or resellers of such products), such guides and ratings systems nonethe-
less are also designed to influence the consumer's choice of products in relation
to ecological and environmental sustainability issues. Buying guides and ratings
are not necessarily based on the outcomes of a certification system, or even on an
explicit assessment process. Primarily designed as visible product endorsements, in
some cases exposure of the underpinning decision process may not be considered
to be important, with the guide standing mainly on the credibility and reputation of
the recommending organisation. In some systems (such as discussed in Chapter 16)
the buying recommendation may be based on a formal and extensive underpinning
decision process. Seafood recommendations for consumers based on environmen-
tal and ecological considerations were first developed in the mid-1990s, and the
first seafood recommendation card for consumer use was issued in 1999 in the US
Audubon Society's magazine (Plate 7.3).
Ecolabelling programmes are voluntary instruments - fisheries or aquacul-
ture ventures can choose to submit their products for compliance assessment to