What’s in a Name?

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When it comes to sustainable seafood, “certified” and “recommended” are not interchangeable
As operators and chefs struggle to keep up with changing consumer preference, one trend they cannot afford to ignore is the increased demand for responsibly sourced food. Sustainable-seafood options are leading the charge in eco-friendly eating and restaurants across Canada are featuring both Ocean Wise and MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) logos on menus. But some confusion does exist — for both operators and diners — about the way sustainable species are assessed. While Vancouver’s Ocean Wise offers “recommendations” based on the research and reports generated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, Toronto-based MSC “certification” is based on third-party assessments of the fishery in question.

 
“The MSC achieves complete supply chain traceability by requiring that all companies handling MSC-certified seafood — from exporters to processors, retailers, restaurants and everyone in between — achieve MSC Chain-of-Custody-certification,” says Céline Rouzaud, Marketing & Communications manager, Canada for the Marine Stewardship Council, noting there are currently more than 3,300 MSC Chain-of-Custody certificate holders in the world.

 
She says regular DNA tests also verify that products with the MSC logo are correctly labelled so consumers can trust the species described on the packaging is correct, thus avoiding food fraud. “Tests have been carried out on hundreds of random samples from MSC-certified products and have shown that mislabelling is extremely rare,” says Rouzaud. “In the last six years, less than one per cent of samples have been found to be incorrectly labelled, on average.”

 
The MSC does not certify farmed seafood, only wild, but the ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) certifies aquaculture. “[MSC] is the only certification for sustainable wild-caught seafood in Canada and offers assurance that from oceans to plate, seafood with the blue MSC label can be traced back to an MSC certified supplier,” says Rouzaud.

 
Ocean Wise, on the other hand, bases its recommendations on criteria for both wild capture fisheries and for aquaculture. “Wild-capture fisheries are recommended based on four main criteria: impact on stock in question; impact on other species (potential bycatch); effectiveness of management practices in place to ensure they don’t overfish; and impact on habitat and the ecosystem,” explains Teddie Geach, a seafood specialist with Ocean Wise.
The aquaculture methodology is based on eight main criteria: data; effluent; habitat effects; chemical use; feed; escapes and introduced species; disease, pathogens and parasite interaction; and source of stock.

 
Ocean Wise is also different in that it posts “not-recommended” items list on its website. The first step to becoming Ocean Wise recommended, says Geach, involves “sitting down with the chef and going through all of the seafood they’re currently using on the menu. They need to provide us with information on exactly what species they’re using, the method of catch and location of catch.” Oftentimes, she says, chefs/owners won’t have that information themselves, so Ocean Wise will go back to the seafood supplier in order to determine if that seafood item would qualify as Ocean Wise recommended. “Once we have the info, we can identify the Ocean Wise options they are already using and suggest alternatives for those items that are not recommended.”

 
“We also work with suppliers, so if our restaurant partners are sourcing from an Ocean Wise-recommended supplier, that makes it much easier because we’ve already gone through the process with the supplier.

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