Article: Finding Sustainable Seafood Can Be Complex https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220810-can-eating-fish-ever-be-sustainable
Although this article does not spell it out, the implication for an end consumer wanting to buy sutainable will always rely on the product having traceability requirements. Certification is the best mechanism and signal we currently have for supply chains managers and consumers alike to achieve and verify this.
"[The Marine Stewardship Council blue tick] means at least they are being audited, and they have to prove things," says Clarke. "It's a great way of just quickly and easily identifying whether something's a sustainable choice."
Certifications like these can also be a protection against fraud, a huge issue in the seafood industry.
A 2016 meta-analysis of DNA identification studies of seafood found that globally there was a 30% rate of misdescription – meaning the fish was not the species stated on the label or menu. But a 2019 DNA study by the Marine Stewardship Council found that seafood bearing its sustainability mark was labelled correctly over 99% of the time.
One issue with these labels, however, is that gaining them can be a significant process for a fishery involving data collection and a lot of paperwork – meaning not every fishery has the resources to receive the stamp, even if they are working sustainably.