MSC launches £1m fund to boost sustainable seafood

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has today launched a new £1m fund to help small scale fisheries become more sustainable.

Almost three-quarters of the world's seafood is caught in the developing world, where growing demand and overfishing is pushing many stocks into decline, the MSC warned. 

As such, the certification scheme is to launch a new Ocean Stewardship Fund, which it says will help fisheries in the 'Global South' manage their operations more sustainably. The initiative is also designed to gather data and research into fisheries management to promote more sustainable practices across the industry.

Rupert Howes, MSC chief executive, said the fund builds on the MSC's existing work helping developing economies transition to sustainable seafood production.

"The MSC's new Ocean Stewardship Fund builds on the experience and success of our earlier Global Fisheries Sustainability Fund which invested in small scale fishery improvements in a diverse range of eco-systems from the Coral Triangle to the oceans around Madagascar and Suriname," he said. "We have substantially increased the scale of the fund and will target investment to those fisheries engaged in a formal transition programme that will deliver measurable improvements in performance."

By 2020, the MSC hopes to engage 20 per cent of global fisheries in its programme as it works to promote sustainable fishing practices, rising to a third by 2030.

However, currently less than 14 per cent of MSC certified fisheries are in developing countries.

"Achieving this target will require strategic engagement with fisheries in the global south. These fisheries contribute over 70 per cent of global seafood production," Howes admitted. "Many are data poor and not operating at a level to achieve MSC certification. The Marine Stewardship Council's £1m Ocean Stewardship Fund is specifically targeted at helping these fisheries on their pathway to sustainability."