Eco-certification of farmed seafood: will it make a difference?

Abstract

Eco-certification is widely considered a tool for reducing environmental impacts of aquaculture, but what are the likely environmental outcomes for the world's fastest growing animal-food production sector? This article analyzes a number of eco-certification schemes based on species choice, anticipated share of the global seafood market, size of eligible producers, and targeted environmental impacts. The potential of eco-certification to reduce the negative environmental impacts of aquaculture at scale presently appears uncertain as: (a) certification schemes currently focus on species predominantly consumed in the EU and US, with limited coverage of Asian markets; (b) the share of certified products in the market as currently projected is too low; (c) there is an inequitable and non-uniform applicability of certification across the sector; (d) mechanisms or incentives for improvement among the worst performers are lacking; and (e) there is incomplete coverage of environmental impacts, with biophysical sustainability and ecosystem perspectives generally lacking.

Fig. 1

Per capita consumption of seafood products (kg y⁻¹) (FAO 2010b). Many Asian countries show a high per capita consumption of seafood compared to other regions in the world

Fig. 2

Share of global production (seaweed excluded) of species groups targeted by eco-certification. More than half of the species (13 of 21) makes up less than 1 % each of the global production from aquaculture (in bracket) (FAO 2012b)

Fig. 3

Current eco-certified share of total aquaculture production and coverage of individual eco-certification schemes (data from 2010 to 2011)

Fig. 4

Fishing in shrimp ponds. Aceh, Indonesia. The majority of seafood farmers in Asia can be defined as small-scale and are at risk of being excluded from eco-certification due to economic and technical constraints. Photo: Flickr/Mike Lusmore, WorldFish

Fig. 5

When certifying the best performers, many farms will be left behind. The producers in the left end of the graph, the worst performers, will likely not invest in technical improvements to reach the certification threshold; the gap to comply with certification standards is too wide

Fig. 6

Utilization of forage fish has been considered a substantial challenge for future aquaculture development. a Landings of fish aimed for feed production or direct usage in aquaculture operations, Guangzhou, China, b shrimp feed from Thailand containing fish meal. Photo: a Max Troell, b Malin Jonell

Fig. 7

Eco-certification likely needs to focus on Asian markets in a larger extent to substantially improve the aquaculture sector. a Man selling carp on market in India, b seafood market in Hong Kong, China. Photo: a Max Troell, b Hampus Eriksson

Fig. 8

Schematic figure illustrating the effects certification may have on the environmental performance of three selected species groups: shrimp, carp, and bivalves. The three parallel lines illustrate the potential certification thresholds for the three species groups