Seafood Ecolabelling

Ecolabelling, traceability and related certification schemes are becoming significant features of international fish trade and marketing. Ecolabels are "seals of approval" given to products that are deemed to have fewer negative impacts on the environment than functionally or competitively similar products. There are about 400 ecolabels concerning different products in operation in the world, of which nearly 50 are related to fisheries and aquaculture. Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Friend of the Sea (FOS), KRAV and Naturland are some of the well-known third party certification and ecolabelling schemes in fisheries. The effectiveness and potential trade implications of ecolabelling programmes have been widely discussed. The adoption of ecolabelling schemes provide additional tools to move towards sustainability of capture fisheries and aquaculture and brings together elements of the market, industry, environmental interests and communities. Different ecolabelling schemes for seafood products and the benefits, issues and challenges in their adoption are briefly reviewed in this paper.