Alternative pathways to sustainable seafood

Abstract

Seafood certifications are a prominent tool being used to encourage sustainability in marine fisheries worldwide. However, questions about their efficacy remain the subject of ongoing debate. A main criticism is that they are not well suited for small‐scale fisheries or those in developing nations. This represents a dilemma because a significant share of global fishing activity occurs in these sectors. To overcome this shortcoming and others, a range of “fixes” have been implemented, including reduced payment structures, development of fisheries improvement projects, and head‐start programs that prepare fisheries for certification. These adaptations have not fully solved incompatibilities, instead creating new challenges that have necessitated additional fixes. We argue that this dynamic is emblematic of a common tendency in natural resource management where particular tools and strategies are emphasized over the conservation outcomes they seek to achieve. This can lead to the creation of “hammers” in management and conservation. We use seafood certifications as an illustrative case to highlight the importance of diverse approaches to sustainability that do not require certification. Focusing on alternative models that address sustainability problems at the local level and increase fishers’ adaptive capacity, social capital, and agency through “relational” supply chains may be a useful starting point.

Alternative seafood networks during COVID-19: Implications for resilience and sustainability

“…To date, ASNs have been described as an important strategy for small-and mid-size seafood operations to build firm-level resilience (Kittinger et al, 2015;Stoll et al, 2020). However, the relative shock-tolerance that ASNs exhibited during the COVID-19 pandemic also suggests that they may also contribute to the "systemic resilience" of the broader seafood economy.…”

“…Nevertheless, key distinctions between them exist in terms of their relationship and geographic orientation to consumers. In particular, what local and regional seafood systems lack in their overall geographic domain and market potential, they make up in their direct connection and proximity to consumers (Stoll et al, 2020). This "relational" orientation between harvesters and consumers sets local and regional seafood systems apart from their global counterparts.…”

“…ASNs are an umbrella term that describes a range of seafood distribution models that serve local and regional food systems and deliver seafood directly to consumers. The literature also refers to ASN as direct marketing arrangements (Stoll et al, 2015), community supported fisheries (Bolton et al, 2016), and relational seafood supply chains (Stoll et al, 2020). Like Alternative Food Networks in the agricultural sector, which emerged in response to perceived problems in food systems, ASNs emerged in the seafood industry as a way address a range of economic, social, and environmental issues (Witter, 2020;Witter and Stoll, 2016) and help small-scale fishers earn higher prices for their catch by capitalizing on growing consumer demand for local, traceable, and sustainable seafood (Brinson et al, 2011;Campbell et al, 2014;McClenachan et al, 2014;Stoll et al, 2015).…”

Multiple drivers behind mislabeling of fish from artisanal fisheries in La Paz, Mexico

“…Although some studies have suggested that the implementation of monitoring, traceability and labeling programs could help to reduce mislabeling ( Ugochukwu et al, 2015 ; Marin et al, 2018 ; Willette & Cheng, 2018 ), our research suggests that while this would help in certain circumstances (e.g., species with high levels of supply) this alone would not solve the issue. Especially since value chain interventions, including certifications that mainly rely on economic incentives, risk not achieving the expected socio-ecological success at the ecosystem level and there is a need to work towards alternative pathways for seafood sustainability ( Kourantidou, Kaiser & Blasiak, 2019 ; Stoll, Bailey & Jonell, 2020 ). In addition, we suggest interventions that include communication efforts with stakeholders and educational campaigns of consumers ( Mariani et al, 2014 ), including actors along a relatively short value chain ( Fig.…”

Social networks and seafood sustainability governance: Exploring the relationship between social capital and the performance of fishery improvement projects

“…This is surprising given the rising number of FIPs as well as the existence of tools for transparently monitoring, evaluating and reporting FIP progress. This is also concerning because it means that the sector is increasingly advocating for the 'FIP model' which has yet to be shown to work across fisheries and contexts (Barr et al, 2019;Stoll et al, 2020). Therefore, more research is ur- Social network analysis is but one of the tools that can help better understand how social networks and social capital matter to FIP performance, but it could bring significant insights on the impact of social relationships and social capital for achieving successful collective outcomes.…”