New Initiatives To Further Enhance Fishery Assessments

The new developments, which include increased resources for and focus on training of certifiers, fishery assessment team members and peer reviewers, a comprehensive review and consolidation of scheme documentation, and a creation of a standardized pre-assessment tool, are part of the MSC’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that its program remains the most robust and credible fishery certification system in the world.

These additional efforts further the MSC’s work to continuously improve the quality and consistency of the program. Examples of other MSC work to develop and improve its methods and policies include the adoption, in 2008, of a standardized fisheries assessment methodology (FAM); and new rules, introduced earlier this year, enhancing the requirements for certifiers to explicitly respond to stakeholder and peer review comments. Further information on these and several other program improvements is now available on the MSC website at http://www.msc.org/about-us/program-improvements.

“Our Board’s top priority is to continue to improve our assessment program,” said Will Martin, Chairman of the Board. “We’re listening very closely to our partners, and we continue the work of developing and revising policies, procedures and systems to ensure the programme keeps up with current thinking and best practice.”

“The credibility of the MSC programme and its assessment process is the foundation of our programme’s value to our partners,” said Rupert Howes, MSC Chief Executive.

“And that is why we are ever vigilant in pursuing improvements to our programme to ensure its continued rigor and quality as the MSC grows and fisheries science evolves. I am pleased at the progress made at the recent Board and Technical Advisory Board meetings to continue to move policy and actions forward to these ends”.