Environmental Engineering Reference
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develop metrics and track and communicate specific environmental progress against
its Principles and Criteria (Leape & Sutton 2004).
The MSC took these two evaluations and their recommendations very seriously.
In the face of mounting criticism, both the MSC chairman and its chief executive
stepped down in 2004, and the board launched a Quality and Consistency project
under the auspices of its technical advisory board and senior staff. This project -
which is ongoing - has led to a number of improvements in the MSC's programme,
including its certification methodology.
Today, under the guidance of its new chairman and chief executive, the MSC is
acknowledged as the world's leading seafood certification and ecolabelling organ-
isation. NFI, which made an abortive attempt to create its own seafood labelling
scheme in the late 1990s (known as the 'Responsible Fisheries Society of the
United States'), finally threw in the towel and agreed to cooperate with the MSC.
The tremendous growth in popularity of the sustainable seafood movement in the
United States and Europe convinced both NFI's executive director and chairman to
accept invitations to join the MSC board in early 2007.
20.4
Sustainable seafood goes mainstream
The growth of the sustainable seafood movement in the United States and around
the world paralleled the development of the MSC itself. Within a decade, 'sustain-
ability' became a buzzword in the seafood industry. After years of paying little heed
to issues such as overfishing and destructive fishing practices, the seafood industry
finally began to embrace the idea of sustainable fishing. Soon, the industry realised
that it could benefit from the marketing advantages associated with the growth of
the organic and sustainable foods sector. The industry finally decided that it could
portray sustainable seafood as good for both the environment and the consumers
themselves. Slowly but surely, the concept of sustainable seafood began to move
from the niche market to the mainstream as more and more companies announced
they would buy their seafood only from sustainable sources.
The years following the groundbreaking agreement between WWF and Unilever
that led to the creation of the MSC saw the formation of further busi-
ness/environment partnerships aimed at promoting sustainable fisheries. For ex-
ample, in 2001, the New England Aquarium partnered with Ahold USA, a division
of Royal Ahold and a major supermarket holding company that owned more than
1600 grocery stores in the eastern United States (see Chapter 1).
In February 2006, after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations with WWF,
Conservation International and the MSC, Wal-Mart announced that it was adopting
a new corporate policy on sustainable seafood. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer
and the biggest food retailer in the United States, announced that it would seek to
deal only in MSC-certified seafood within 3-5 years. This announcement sent shock
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