The Marine Stewardship Council is a global organisation which promotes responsible fishing practices. Established in 1997 by WWF and Unilever, the world’s largest buyer of seafood, they became fully independent two years later in 1999. The Marine Stewardship Council was set up to look into and combat environmental issues concerning over fishing, an issue causing serious problems in light of the fact that the demand for seafood products has doubled in the last thirty years.
The vast majority of the world’s fish stocks are being over exploited to varying degrees, with only 3% of stocks considered to be under exploited, according to the World Resources Institute. This is clearly unsustainable, and the Marine Stewardship Council uses its environmental principles to encourage sustainable fishing practices. Their distinctive blue product label (see left) marks seafood products certified by the Marine Stewardship Council who manage the only internationally recognised set of environmental principles relating to fishing.
There are currently 26 certified fisheries in the Marine Stewardship Council programme, with a further 68 fisheries undergoing assessment (as of March 2008), and details of these can be found in the Fisheries section of the Marine Stewardship Council website.
Marine Stewardship Council certified products are available in most major supermarkets in the UK as well as in other stores and restaurants. Look out for the logo when buying seafood products and check out details of where to buy on the Marine Stewardship Council website.
