Marine Stewardship Council Camiel Derichs Program Development Director • MSC in the Wider World • MSC’s impact • 2019 – 2020 update • Fishery News • Look into the Future Marine Stewardship Council A global challenge Overfishing of stocks estimated to be fished to biologically 34.2% unsustainable levels (FAO SOFIA 2020) Consumption

rise in total food fish consumption, +122% 1990 to 2018 (FAO SOFIA 2020)

Purse seine fishing gear catching Atlantic menhaden © Omega Protein Corporation

4 MSC in the wider world

Public authorities  regulation, surveillance and control Market actors  Company policies, standards, industry codes of practice

Incentives needed!

Purse seine fishing gear catching Atlantic menhaden © Omega Protein Corporation

5 Vision and mission

The Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit on a mission to end overfishing and restore fish stocks for future generations. Our vision is of the world’s oceans teeming with life, and seafood supplies safeguarded for this and future generations. Our mission is to use our blue fish tick and fishery certification program to contribute to the health of the world’s oceans by recognising and rewarding sustainable fishing practices, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood and working with our partners to transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis. MSC certification and assurance

Fishery Fishery Chain of Custody Ecolabel & claim Consumer assessment and Assessment and use approval, Product certification Certification Licensing

Credible independent third party verification of seafood sustainability from boat to plate

7 The UN Global Sustainable Development Goals

• 17 goals, 169 targets

• Many goals and targets have direct links with fisheries, seafood markets, and fisheries management.

• Credible standards can help . governments and businesses to achieve SDG targets and goals. MSC’s impact

9 MSC 2019 – 2020: a year in numbers Uptake by the market 18,735 MSC labelled products (SKUs) on Uptake on the water: shelves

of all marine wild catch was Ca. 17.4% engaged with the MSC US$ 10 billion sales value

Impacts in the water: 71 nations where consumers can buy MSC improvements made by labelled products 1,751 fisheries by the end of 2019 100 countries with chain of custody certificate holders

10 Progress in the year

In 2019 - 20 Of all marine wild catch…

17.4% was engaged with the MSC

Engaged catch is made up of…

certified MSC engaged catch reached 14.7 million tonnes 15.0% 1.2% certified but suspended

in assessment MSC 2019-20 marine catch compared with FAO 2018 data 1.2%

11 Progress in the year

MSC engaged catch volume (tonnes)

Mussels Squid, Miscellaneous Shrimp, Salmon, Tuna, bonito, Herring, Cod, hake, cuttlefish, demersal fish prawn trout, billfish sardine, haddock octopus smelt anchovy

2018/2019

2019/2020

12 Proportion of global catch that is MSC certified

MSC certified marine catch (including suspended fisheries) and fishery data for the 2019-20 financial year, compared with total marine catch in each FAO major fishing area in 2018 (latest UN data available).

Approximate location of MSC certified fishing activity

13 MSC Certified fisheries improving

improvements benefiting ecosystems 1,751 72 and habitats improvements improvements benefiting endangered, 126 threatened and protected species and bycatch made by improvements benefiting fishery fisheries by 75 management, governance and policy the end of 2019 improvements benefiting stock status including 384 since 2017 with: 111 and harvest strategy

Improvements come from a condition of certification being closed, which has resulted in global best practice (a score of at least 80) being achieved on at least one more performance indicator.

14 Impacts Before certification

Capacity building, Outreach, Other pre-MSC tools

MSC Benchmarking and tracking tool

Multi-fishery pre-assessment projects

MSC In Transition to MSC certified

Poor performing High performing fisheries fisheries

Global fisheries

Increasing ecological performance

5-8 years 15 Questions? Fisheries news TUNA

7 highly traded species: Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Bluefin, Yellowfin, Albacore, Bigeye and Skipjack. These are divided into 23 stocks. Stock size in 65% is healthy, 17.5% are overfished and 17.5% intermediate. Purse seine, gillnet and pole and line are used to catch tuna near the surface e.g. skipjack, small yellowfin, albacore and bluefin Deep-set longlines are used to catch tuna in deeper waters e.g. larger bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin and albacore Global Tuna Market MSC Tuna Usufuku Honten Bluefin Tuna certification First MSC certified bluefin tuna fishery • 2-year assessment process included stakeholder feedback and formal objections • 55.3 tonnes of Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna caught (0.2%) of 28,200 tonnes ICCAT total allowable catch in 2018 • Fishery has 7 conditions – progress checked in annual audits Herring

Wider family of around 200 fish species, 3 species of herring that are most common: Atlantic, Pacific and Araucanian. Herrings have been salted in Europe for at least 1000 years to keep as winter food Salting preserves the fish and makes it easy to transport, as well as extends its shelf life. Atlanto-Scandian Herring

• Norway spring spawning herring • SPSG, DPPO, PFA, SPFPO & KFO Atlanto-Scandian purse seine and pelagic trawl herring (EU) • Iceland Sustainable Fisheries (ISF) Norwegian & Icelandic herring trawl & seine • Faroese Pelagic Organisation Atlanto-Scandian herring Atlanto-Scandian Herring - issues Why are the fisheries at risk of suspension?

• Total catch exceeds scientific advice, and international quota agreement not in place • MSC conditions have to be closed in time to address these problems • Condition timelines expire 30th of November • Unless improvement is delivered by fisheries management, AS herring fisheries are expected to be suspended on 30 December 2020 Herring - options Forecast, and what can be done? • Season 2020 is expected to be (mostly) covered by MSC certification • AS herring stock is still in good shape (+24% this year), so higher quota advice expected for 2021 • Management meetings in October may turn the tide, this can still be addressed in time! • Signal to suppliers and, if possible, authorities in Norway/Iceland/EU/Faeroes that the management needs to improve:

1. Catches should not exceed what is recommended by science. 2. A management mechanism should be adopted that ensure catches do not exceed scientific recommendations. • If no result, consider alternative supply options. MSC certified supply is available from the Northsea, Icelandic summer spawning, Baltic herring fisheries. Mackerel & Blue Whiting

Like the Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries, the four MSC certified blue whiting fisheries will likely be suspended on 30 December 2020.

All MSC certified North East Atlantic mackerel fisheries were suspended from the MSC program in 2019. Pollock

Alaska pollock catches, by country Annual reported (1950-2017) and projected (2018-2020) catches

5M

Metric tons Metric 2.5M

1962 ● South Korea: 27,800t ● US: 32t 0 ● Russia: 97,200t ● Japan1950 : 452,500t1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Source: FAO (up to 2017) and Groundfish Forum Forecast (2018-2020) © Undercurrent News

Other South Korea North Korea US Russia Japan Alaska Pollock

The world’s largest MSC certified fishery by volume, Alaska Pollock – Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands celebrated its 15th year of certification in 2020. • Big but sustainable due to exemplary management • Volume ca 1.3 million MT/yr. • Stable supply anticipated Russian Pollock

• Russia has the biggest pollock resources in the world • Management divided in 5-6 different stocks • Sea of Okhotsk pollock certified for PCA, circa 700,000MT/yr • East Sakhalin pollock, in full assessment for PCA. Circa 100,000MT/yr • West Kamchatka (sea of Okhotsk stock) in full assessment for VA Circa 12,000MT/yr • Kurils in full assessment for Gidrostroy JSC, circa 100,000MT/yr Fisheries: Small scale and the developing world

30 Growth in small scale fisheries

16% 62 80,000 22 of MSC Certified small-scale livelihoods in countries with fisheries were fisheries small-scale small-scale small-scale fisheries fisheries

31 Growth in the Global South

of MSC engaged catch of total Global South catch 13% from Global South 3.3% is MSC certified

fisheries engaged in the countries engaged 70 Global South 26

Sunset over the ocean in the Maldives © Nice & Serious 32 Funding for ocean stewardship

First grants funded by our Ocean Stewardship Fund were awarded to projects in March 2020

• The Transition Assistance strand: supports to small-scale and Global South fisheries to make the improvements they need to achieve MSC certification • The Science and Research strand: supports vital scientific research initiatives in MSC certified fisheries around the world • The next round of funding is open from 8 October 2020

15 projects were awarded up to £50,000 of funding each. These include:

• Projects supporting fisheries in Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa that are improving towards MSC certification • Research projects focusing on ghost gear and interactions with protected species in other parts of the world

33 Questions? Look into the Future Our 2020 goal 20% of global marine catch comes from MSC certified or engaged fisheries, supporting productivity and resilience in globally important marine ecosystems. Our 2030 aspiration More than a third of global marine catch certified or engaged by 2030. MSC is a leading catalyst for improved fisheries management and market transformation, contributing to the sustainable use of our oceans, supporting resilience, food security and livelihoods. Key projects in the years ahead

• Fisheries Standards Review • Engagement possible, see MSC.org • Digital traceability • Transition to MSC program • New markets • New sectors