Aquaculture

By Jill Schwartz

In the near future, farmed seafood will be marked with a label if the seafood was produced with little to no harm to the environment or society. The label will help consumers sort through the maze of information – some credible and some not – about what seafood to eat and what seafood to avoid.

But before that, science-based standards have to be created so farmers know what targets to reach if they want their products to be certified.

For aquaculture alone, there are 35 sets of standards – most which were categorized in a recent benchmarking study as needing improvement. This drives home the need to follow a credible process for developing voluntary standards, particularly standards that address social and environmental impacts.

That is where the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance steps in.

The ISEAL Alliance was founded in 2000 to help organizations strengthen and promote voluntary standards to bring about positive social and environmental change. Its list of members includes the Forest Stewardship Council, Marine Stewardship Council, The FairTrade Foundation and RainForest Alliance. ISEAL members are committed to implementing programs that do not act as technical barriers to trade, comply with internationally-accepted criteria and focus on best social and environmental production practices.

One of the main tools used by ISEAL is the Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards, which was approved by the ISEAL Board in 2004. The code includes criteria for developing, adopting and revising standards, such as criteria that ensure the standards are objective and created by consensus. The code also includes numerous criteria for ensuring anybody can provide feedback while the standards are being created or revised and that all discussions about standard-setting are well-documented.

On behalf of the Aquaculture Dialogues, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is working with its partners to create a process document for the Dialogues that seeks to be in line with the code.

“Complying with the ISEAL code is critical if we want to make sure the Aquaculture Dialogue standards are fair, effective and attainable,” said Jose Villalon, director of the WWF-US Aquaculture Program. “We are committed to implementing a Dialogue process that gets ISEAL’s stamp of approval and results in standards that meet the demands of consumers.”

WWF anticipates that the standards-setting organization that manages the final Aquaculture Dialogues standards will apply for ISEAL membership. In the meantime, the Aquaculture Dialogues participate in the ISEAL Emerging Initiatives Program. As participants, the Aquaculture Dialogues can receive support from ISEAL in creating standards. By learning from others, emerging initiatives are in a better position to establish credible and effective programs, according to ISEAL.

The ISEAL Code was created in 2004, with the understanding that it would be reviewed and revised at least once every five years to reflect changes in the global trade arena, new ways of thinking about standards, etc. The review process for the first revision is in progress.