What is Sustainability?

The MSC Fisheries Standard

The MSC website defines sustainable fishing as “leaving enough fish in the ocean, respecting habitats and ensuring people who depend on fishing can maintain their livelihoods” ("What is Sustainable Fishing," 2021). Sustainable fishing can be measured using the MSC Fisheries Standard, which consists of three fundamental principles being:

• Principle 1: Sustainable fish stocks

• Principle 2: Minimizing environmental impact

• Principle 3: Effective management

Standards of Assessment

After developing these principles, the MSC set and administered standards for sustainable fishing through a certification and logo system, creating the MSC-certified sustainable seafood logo that consumers may know and recognize as the blue fish logo.

The key standards of assessment include:

• the status of the specific stock being fished,

• the broader impact of fishing on the ecosystem, including non-targeted species (bycatch),

• and the robustness of management and control functions in place.