Alaska takes fight over seafood eco-labelling to Washington

Many of North America's biggest seafood purchasers, including Walmart, Sodexo and the US government, are rethinking their environmental sustainability standards under intense pressure from the Alaskan fishing industry.

At issue are criticisms of the growing use of "eco-labels" in the $218bn a year global trade in seafood, the world's most-traded food commodity.

Eco-labelling schemes provide independent verification that fish have been sourced from a hatchery operated in an environmentally sustainable manner. They are increasingly required by major buyers in response to consumer demands for sustainable food.

But a backlash threatens to derail the London-based Marine Stewardship Council's status as the world's benchmark eco-labelling scheme - which critics warn could erode sustainability standards and set back a decade worth of progress.

The fight began after a contingent of Alaskan fishermen dumped the MSC label last year in favour of their own alternative certification, saying its procedures were too costly, burdensome and eroded the brand of Alaskan salmon.

MSC brushed off the criticism, retorting that it was still the standard bearer for sustainability.

"We want to work with people who want to work with us but at the end of the day we're a voluntary programme and the market will ultimately decide what assurance schemes they want," said Rupert Howes, its chief executive.

Walmart and other purchasers balked at Alaska's alternative label in June, stipulating that they would only accept salmon certified by the MSC, or an equivalent standard, which the new scheme did not meet. As a result certain types of Alaska catch disappeared from supermarket shelves, as well as the menus of many US military and government cafeterias.

But Walmart has more recently said it will buy Alaskan salmon that is not MSC labelled and is consulting with another group to develop its own sustainability standards.

Alaska's fishing industry, led by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute - which spearheaded the effort to create the alternative certification based on guidelines from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, was irate. Along with political allies, it mounted an offensive in Washington to convince buyers to reconsider their "MSC-only" policies and accept Alaskan wild salmon as the "gold standard" in sustainability.

"We do it the right way. Sustainability is written into our Alaska constitution," said Mark Begich, the Democratic senator from Alaska. He said the state does not need "some third party group telling us what's sustainable, when, in reality, that's what we do everyday here".

In September, Mr Begich convened a hearing of the Senate subcommittee on oceans, atmosphere, fisheries and the coast guard, which he chairs, where he criticised the role of third parties dictating sustainability standards to Alaska and the US government. Witnesses criticised the MSC's "monopolistic" eco-labelling practices.

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The MSC was not invited to give evidence.

Further ramping up pressure, Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, lambasted federal agencies that had adopted preferred eco-labels. She introduced legislation that would prohibit them from requiring such certifications in their procurement practices, which, if enacted, could deliver a huge blow to MSC and the eco-labelling movement as a whole.

But critics in the environmental community warn that the Alaskan rebellion could lead to the acceptance by retailers and governments of watered down sustainability standards, as these groups grade the ASMI certification substantially lower than MSC's. Such a move, they said, threatens to erode a decade of progress in promoting sustainably sourced seafood.

"One of the principal reasons [the ASMI certification] falls so low is mostly because [it is] designed to be expedient - either to be less costly or less rigorous. If you do that there's no way you can design a thorough standard," said Bill Fox, vice-president, fisheries of the World Wildlife Fund, which helped create the MSC in the late 1990s.

Others contend that Alaska's discontent is more an issue of regional pride.

"Alaska fisheries have managed to create this myth around themselves that they are the gold standard and seem to resent the idea of anyone else evaluating their sustainability," said John Hocevar, US oceans campaign director for Greenpeace, the environmental campaigning group.

They point out that there is a growing need for a consistent global third-party certification scheme because 91 per cent of seafood consumed in the US is imported. It therefore falls outside the jurisdiction of US agencies responsible for fisheries management, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

Nevertheless, Alaska's push has resulted in government agencies such as the General Services Administration and National Park Service retreating from MSC-exclusive policies: both have revised their sourcing guidelines to remove any reference to third-party certification requirements. While Sodexo, the biggest food supplier to the US government and military, and Walmart have not indicated whether or not they will accept the new Alaska certification, they have hinted that they are open to considering non-MSC labels.

"We have been and will continue to be engaged in open and transparent dialogue as some fisheries in [Alaska] have taken steps to move toward an alternative certification," Walmart said.

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