7 NGO Approaches to Aquaculture
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not be motivated to improve in order to meet the standards. Organics and eco-labels
have traditionally been niche markets, but a growing number of NGOs are looking
to these tools to influence the industry as a whole, not simply the top 1% of
producers.
7.4.4 Certification
WWF wants to see the transformation of the aquaculture industry. The organization
believes that independent, third-party certification can play an important role in this
transformation. This is a strategy that has been implemented for a range of industries including forestry, fisheries, and agriculture. WWF was a key player in the
creation and implementation of the Forest Stewardship Council, the Marine
Stewardship Council, Protected Harvest, and the Marine Aquarium Council.
Product certification provides a label that informs the buyer of product qualities
and complements other information on a label regarding price, quantity, identity,
government standards, health and nutritional information, and producer name. An
eco-label typically certifies qualities that may not be readily apparent to the buyer,
such as product safety, the process of production, the place of origin, and the social
and environmental qualities of the product and production process.
Through purchasing labeled product, buyers, be they distributors or endconsumers, express preferences such as their beliefs and personal ethics on health
and safety risks, treatment of workers, and environmental stewardship. An independent and recognized eco-label will provide consumers with a product that they
trust to be sustainable without requiring them to remember details about better and
worse choices. In exercising choice of certified products over non-certified
products, the buyer rewards certain producers and creates a market demand that
provides incentives for an industry to adopt preferred production practices, materials,
and processes.
Certification complements other strategies to improve the environmental, social,
and food safety performance of the aquaculture industry. Social action and activism,
mandatory or command and control regulatory systems, or first- or second-party
certification can each play a role in improving overall industry performance. To the
extent that independent, performance-based certification programs are successful
they can provide a more effective option than any of the above because they provide
a credible, concrete alternative by identifying the best of the industry and using that
benchmark as the basis for change. Aquaculture producers throughout the world
producing a wide range of different products have publicly stated that they want
certification programs that will help them gain market advantage.
WWF believes that certification is a unique and complementary strategy to drive
economic, social, and environmental improvements in the aquaculture industry.
Just as the standard development process needs to be credible, an aquaculture certification body must be independent and transparent. Aquaculture production should
not be certified by WWF nor by industry interests, but by independent, third-party
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not be motivated to improve in order to meet the standards. Organics and eco-labels
have traditionally been niche markets, but a growing number of NGOs are looking
to these tools to influence the industry as a whole, not simply the top 1% of
producers.
7.4.4 Certification
WWF wants to see the transformation of the aquaculture industry. The organization
believes that independent, third-party certification can play an important role in this
transformation. This is a strategy that has been implemented for a range of industries including forestry, fisheries, and agriculture. WWF was a key player in the
creation and implementation of the Forest Stewardship Council, the Marine
Stewardship Council, Protected Harvest, and the Marine Aquarium Council.
Product certification provides a label that informs the buyer of product qualities
and complements other information on a label regarding price, quantity, identity,
government standards, health and nutritional information, and producer name. An
eco-label typically certifies qualities that may not be readily apparent to the buyer,
such as product safety, the process of production, the place of origin, and the social
and environmental qualities of the product and production process.
Through purchasing labeled product, buyers, be they distributors or endconsumers, express preferences such as their beliefs and personal ethics on health
and safety risks, treatment of workers, and environmental stewardship. An independent and recognized eco-label will provide consumers with a product that they
trust to be sustainable without requiring them to remember details about better and
worse choices. In exercising choice of certified products over non-certified
products, the buyer rewards certain producers and creates a market demand that
provides incentives for an industry to adopt preferred production practices, materials,
and processes.
Certification complements other strategies to improve the environmental, social,
and food safety performance of the aquaculture industry. Social action and activism,
mandatory or command and control regulatory systems, or first- or second-party
certification can each play a role in improving overall industry performance. To the
extent that independent, performance-based certification programs are successful
they can provide a more effective option than any of the above because they provide
a credible, concrete alternative by identifying the best of the industry and using that
benchmark as the basis for change. Aquaculture producers throughout the world
producing a wide range of different products have publicly stated that they want
certification programs that will help them gain market advantage.
WWF believes that certification is a unique and complementary strategy to drive
economic, social, and environmental improvements in the aquaculture industry.
Just as the standard development process needs to be credible, an aquaculture certification body must be independent and transparent. Aquaculture production should
not be certified by WWF nor by industry interests, but by independent, third-party