SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES CERTIFICATION PROCESS IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: POTENTIAL OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES Jyväskylä University School Of Business and Economics Master’s thesis 2017 Maija Lähteenkorva MSc Corporate Environmental Management Stefan Baumeister JYVÄSKYLÄ UNIVERSITY Author Maija Lähteenkorva Title of thesis Sustainable fisheries certification process in the developing countries: Potential of the tourism industry in the Philippines Discipline Type of work MSc Corporate Environmental Management Master’s thesis Time (month / year) Number of pages 06/2016 82 Abstract This thesis focuses on looking at market-driven approach to establishing sustainable fisheries in developing countries. Market-driven approaches consist of sustainable fisheries certification or also known as ecolabels that are based on economic incentives. The aim of this study is to identify potential certification processes suitable for the Phil- ippines tourism industry. The study first identified criteria for sustainable fisheries cer- tification, which was done using Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standards. Se- cond part of the study conducted a market analysis on selected local resorts, looking at their current seafood sustainability and focusing especially on whether there is any demand for sustainable seafood supplier. Although the theoretical framework was able to identify that there are currently no suitable sustainable fisheries certification for developing countries, the result of the empirical data showed that there is demand for sustainable seafood supplier. However incentives to change their current seafood into sustainable seafood is low. Overall the study concluded that Negros Oriental Province fisheries don’t have the resources to implement a proper certification programme like Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), but the study found that there are alternative assessment tools being used that are spe- cifically adapted to Philippine fisheries. The study also identified current gaps in fisheries industry in the Philippines, which showed that there is need for more efficient traceability tools, country specific sustain- able fisheries standards, and most importantly more consumer awareness on seafood availability and seasonality. Keywords Sustainable fisheries, MSC, Sustainable certification process, developing country, Philippines Depository Jyväskylä University Library Additional information 3 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Aims, objectives and research questions ..................................................... 6 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................ 9 2.1 Marked based approach to sustainable fisheries practices ....................... 9 2.2 Certification process ..................................................................................... 11 2.3 Criticism of MSC certification process ....................................................... 13 2.3.1 The corporate structure of MSC ......................................................... 13 2.3.2 Lack of clear standards ....................................................................... 13 2.4 Sustainable fisheries practices and certification in developing countries ......................................................................................................... 14 2.5 Sustainable fisheries practices and certification in the Philippines ....... 19 3 DATA AND RESEARCH METHOD .................................................................. 22 3.1 Negros Oriental ............................................................................................. 22 3.2 Market Analysis ............................................................................................ 22 3.2.1 Selection criteria for sample ............................................................. 22 3.2.1.1 Sustainable Seafood Week ................................................. 23 3.2.1.2 Negros Oriental ................................................................... 23 3.2.2 Method of data collection ................................................................. 24 3.2.3 Process of data collection .................................................................. 24 3.2.4 Method of data analysis .................................................................... 27 4 RESEARCH FINDINS ........................................................................................... 28 4.1 Sustainable Seafood Week ........................................................................... 28 4.1.1 Roadmap to sustainable seafood in the Philippines ..................... 28 4.1.2 Assessment of sustainable fisheries in the Philippines ................ 28 4.2 Market Demand for Sustainable seafood in Negros Oriental Resorts .. 29 4.2.1 Resorts current involvement in sustainable fisheries in the Negros Oriental Province ................................................................ 29 4.2.1.1 Fish Species .......................................................................... 29 4.2.1.2 Supply of Seafood ............................................................... 30 4.2.1.3 Seafood selection and dish popularity in resorts ........... 32 4.2.1.4 Sustainability of current seafood served ......................... 33 4.2.2 Current demand for sustainable seafood products in Negros Oriental Province ............................................................................... 33 4.2.3 Willingness to replace current product into sustainably fished products in Negros Oriental Province ............................................ 35 5 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................... 38 5.1 Analysis .......................................................................................................... 38 5.2 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 40 4 6 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 44 6.1 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 44 6.2 Recommendations for Marine Conservation Philippines ....................... 45 6.3 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 45 6.4 Directions for future research ..................................................................... 46 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 47 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................... 51 Appendix I: Marine Conservation Philippines Sustainable Fisheries and Certification project outline ................................................................. 51 Appendix II: Outline of the steps in the MSC fishery assessment process ..... 53 Appendix III: MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing .............. 54 Appendix IV: Interview Questions for data collection .................................... 58 Appendix VI: Data Collection ......................................................................... 60 5 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The current dilemma of fisheries industry is that the demand for seafood is con- stantly growing, while the supply of capture marine fish is getting more and more stagnant every year. Despite some progress in improvement of marine stock in certain areas, overall the situation has not improved over the years. Ac- cording to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2016) analysis on global commercial fish stocks, the share of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels have decreased from 90% in 1974 to 68,6% in 2011 from which 31,4% of fish stocks were being overfished. In order to secure most important food source for ever-growing population, various stakeholders have taken actions to transform the fisheries industry into more sustainable (FAO, 2016; Grafton et al., 2006; Iles, 2007; Österblom et al., 2011). One of those actions consists of creating market-based approach that promotes and rewards through economic incentives responsibly sourced sea- food. These market based measures also commonly known as sustainability cer- tifications or ecolabels have mainly been developed by NGOs, often in associa- tion with industrial or commercial corporations in the fisheries industry (FAO, 2016; Pérez-Ramírez et al., 2012). Concerns over sustainable use and manage- ment of marine resources have led to a rapid increase in seafood certification schemes and eco-labeling during the last decade (Bellchambersa et al., 2016). There are currently around 30 certification programs available globally that fo- cus on fisheries, out of which the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) founded by Unilever and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 1996 is currently the most dominant due to its credibility and worldwide recognition (Parkes et al., 2010). Although there has been some criticism towards marked-based certifica- tion approach especially in terms of evaluation methodology on fisheries in de- veloped and developing countries, they have also been considered to be most stringent and transparent