MSC has developed guidelines with experts for assessing and certifying fishing.
The following criteria are used to assess whether sustainable fishing is taking place according to MSC guidelines:
- Sustainability of fish stocks: overfishing of stocks should be avoided. In the case of over-fished stocks, fishing should lead to stocks recovering.
- Minimisation of the impact on the eco system: certification takes into account some aspects of the eco system (how are the fish and seafood procured in the catch area; trawler nets must not be used on coral reefs, for example, a stipulation that also complies with the usual statutory regulations).
- Effective fishery management system: a certified fishery should ensure that its institutional and operational standards are geared to sustainable use of the resource.
