A global scheme to make the world’s fishing industries more sustainable launched its new Asian headquarters in Singapore on Monday.
The London-based non-government organization Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) held an opening ceremony for its new Singapore office to kick off a five-year-plan for the intensified growth of its eco-label scheme in Asia.
“Now is the time to do what we’ve always wanted to do, which is to expand into Asia,” said vice chair of the MSC board of trustees Professor Keith Sainsbury at the ceremony.
MSC is under no illusions about the big task ahead, but – with the number of certified products in Asia growing at about five per cent each year - the region is already showing promising signs, he added.
“If we can’t make (the sustainable fish certification scheme) work in Asia, the future doesn’t look good,” said Professor Sainsbury, referring to the major fishery industries around that globe that have already collapsed or are on the verge.
Globally, fish is rising as a source of animal protein. According to the United National Food and Agriculture Organization, the average per capita fish consumption in 2010 was the highest ever at over 18 kilogrammes. With current population growth, the US$125 billion global fisheries and aquaculture industries will produce an estimated 172 million tonnes each year by 2021, and financially support up to 12 per cent of the population in the process.
As an independent third-party auditor, MSC certifies the fisheries that practice according to international sustainability guidelines. It also provides eco-labels for more than 15,000 seafood products that can be legally traced through each company in the supply chain back to certified sustainable fisheries, known as Chain of Command certification.
Currently, nearly 300 fisheries around world have been certified or are undergoing assessment. Collectively they produce over 11 per cent – or nearly 10 million metric tonnes – of the world’s seafood.
The NGO, which started just over 10 years ago, has so far focused mainly on European industries and markets so that they could first prove the effectiveness of the eco-label scheme.
Only 16 per cent of the companies with chain of command certification are in Asia, but that is likely to change as the group targets a five-fold increase in the number of MSC-labelled products and a substantial increase in the number of certified industries in the region.
Professor Sainsbury told Eco-Business on the sidelines of the event that the biggest challenge would be getting consumers and companies used to the certification concept, but added that the region was ready. Chinese consumers, in particular, show real concern for the source of their seafood and ensuring it is safe and pure, he noted.
MSC’s regional director for Asia, Kelvin Ng, said that Singapore was a great platform for a regional office despite having no fisheries of its own because it hosted numerous multi-national corporations related to the industry.
One of those corporations is Malaysia-based Golden Fresh, which supplies seafood to local grocery chains Cold Storage and Fairprice under its Pacific West brand.
Golden Fresh chief executive Earn Saw said that so far, he has not seen many other businesses from his industry that are actively pursuing eco-labelling and that more education was needed to make progress. His firm promotes awareness of sustainable fishing – particularly amongst younger generations - through road shows and supermarket displays.
As that awareness grows, companies that follow the MSC eco-labelling and certification scheme should see rewards such as improved access to markets, price premiums and reputations as responsible companies, noted Professor Sainsbury.
“Then, MSC will be in a position to reward fisheries that are doing it right,” he said.
