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CERTIFICATION OF SUSTAINABLE
FISHERIES
REWARDING BENEFITS THROUGH PAYMENTS AND MARKETS
Table 5.3: Global supply of roundwood from certified resources (2007-2009)
Region Total forest area
(million ha)
North
America
Western
Europe
CIS
Oceania
Africa
Latin
America
Asia
World total
470.6
155.5
907.4
197.6
649.9
964.4
524.1
3,869.5
2007
164.2
80.8
20.6
9.9
2.6
12.1
1.6
291.8
As demand for fish and other marine and aquatic species
continues to increase and the commercial fishing industry
goes to ever greater lengths to access new fish resources,
a consensus is emerging that the world’s fisheries are in
peril. The impact of fisheries and aquaculture on the wider
marine and coastal environment is also of grave and growing
concern. Aquaculture expansion, seen as a means
to reduce pressures on wild stocks, has been implicated
in the loss of coastal habitat (e.g. mangroves in tropical
zones) whilst the farming of higher value species (e.g. salmon
and prawns) still requires substantial fishmeal inputs.
The fisheries sector has a substantial direct interest in
engaging with the issue of biodiversity and ecosystem
protection to:
• secure long-term supplies of target fish. Healthy
ecosystems have higher productivity, but require
management of the ecosystem as a whole;
• safeguard reputation and access to markets.
Consumers and retailers are increasingly concerned
about the impacts of fisheries on target and nontarget
species and seabed habitats and are demanding
assurances that the industry take action to
address them.
Total certified forest area
(million ha)
2008
181.7
84.2
24.6
9.4
3.0
15.0
2.0
319.9
2009
180.3
82.2
25.2
10.3
5.6
14.6
3.0
321.1
Total forest area certified (%)
2007
34.9
52.0
2.3
5.0
0.4
Several initiatives have been launched to conserve
fish stocks more effectively. The FAO Code of Conduct
for Responsible Fisheries establishes a voluntary
framework on which to base sustainable fishing
practices 29 . The Seafood Choices Alliance, a global
association of fishers, fish farmers, wholesalers and
restaurants, works to promote ocean-friendly seafood
30 . For tuna, the Global Tuna Conservation Initiative
launched by WWF and TRAFFIC is working to
establish an ecosystem-based management approach
for tuna stocks 31 .
Of the fisheries market labels, the Marine Stewardship
Council (MSC) is the most widely recognised and has
the largest geographic coverage (see Box 5.24).
CERTIFICATION OF BIODIVERSITY-
FRIENDLY AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
The impact of agricultural practices (e.g. conversion
and degradation of natural habitat, pollution) has been
identified as the main reason for the loss of terrestrial
biodiversity (sCBD and MNP 2007). By 1990, over two
thirds of the area within two of the world’s fourteen
major terrestrial biomes and over half of the area within
four others had been converted, primarily for agriculture
(MA 2005b).
TEEB FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY MAKERS - CHAPTER 5: PAGE 48
1.3
0.3
7.5
2008
38.6
54.1
2.7
4.8
0.5
1.6
0.4
8.3
2009
38.3
52.8
2.8
5.2
0.9
1.5
0.6
8.3
Sources: UNECE/FAO (2009) using individual certification schemes;
the Canadian Sustainable Forestry Certification Coalition; FAO and authors’ compilations 2009.