How are appropriate performance levels developed for MSC certification? A case study assessing shark finning

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification is based on an assessment of a fishery’s performance against three levels within the MSC Fisheries Standard: ‘minimum acceptable’, ‘best practice’ and ‘state-of-the-art’. Determining the criteria that define these performance levels in the MSC Fisheries Standard is a challenging task. This is due to factors including the constant evolution of management practices that are used as benchmarks for each performance level, the broad nature of the MSC Fisheries Standard which must be applicable to all fisheries regardless of scale or intensity, and differing perspectives of stakeholders. Periodic review and updating the MSC Fisheries Standard ensure that certification keeps pace with global fisheries management. An area where the performance levels within the MSC Fisheries Standard were suspected to have lagged global management was in relation to shark finning. This study provides a global summary of management measures to minimise shark finning, an overview of information used to determine appropriate performance levels to assess shark finning, and the decision processes that led to changes in the revised MSC Fisheries Standard. The key changes are 1) a fins naturally attached (FNA) measure being required for all MSC certified fisheries that retain sharks, as FNA is now considered a global ‘minimum acceptable’ performance level, and 2) an MSC default definition for ‘sharks’ being Selachimorpha and Rhinopristiformes. In combination with other aspects of the MSC Fisheries Standard, the revised requirements represent a significant step forward to ensuring that shark finning does not occur in MSC certified fisheries.