Sustainable seafood certifications are inadequate to challenges of ecosystem change

Abstract

The recent Marine Stewardship Council certification for the Russian Barents Red King Crab demonstrates the consequences of overlooking ecological factors in seafood sustainability assessments. The crab is commercially valuable but has uncertain invasive effects for the ecosystem. Russian authorities manage it as a long-term fishery and openly accept the co-incidental risks that come along with the invasion. The Russian crab fishery is monopolized and there is limited transparency on both quota acquisition and decision-making regarding its management. Including ecological and socio-political dimensions expands the sustainability definition to more closely match general consumer perceptions of what certified sustainability represents. The focus of widely trusted certification processes on fishery practices masks important sustainability considerations from end consumers and may distort their choices.