32 JUNE 2019 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG experience. More important, however, is access to markets that may otherwise be denied. Many supermarkets and restaurants nowadays are publicizing their sustainability claims and these are often based on products being sourced from certified suppliers. For example, Sainsbury’s, a large supermarket company in the UK, has stated that by 2020 all fish that they sell will be independently certified as sustainable. Many other supermarkets are likely to follow suit. Another important reason that aquaculture operations may seek certification is called the “social license to operate.” New farms generally need to convince local communities and regulatory authorities that they will be using best practices in their operations and becoming environmentally and socially certified often helps in this process. Now that several of these certification schemes have been operating for a number of years, it is pertinent to ask whether they have generated any demonstrable improvements in environmental or social outcomes at the farm level. In an attempt to address this question, ISEAL commissioned a report in 2018 that aimed to understand the effectiveness of sustainability standards and certification tools in driving the adoption of more sustainable practices in certified entities. The study was carried out by the University of Oxford and the consultancy company 3keel (ISEAL Alliance 2018a). One hundred and sixteen studies that reported relevant outcomes from entities certified with a sustainability standard were filtered from an original body of over 13,000 studies from the peer-reviewed and gray literature and the evidence for practice adoption was assessed in six thematic areas that covered environmental, social and economic practices. The report concluded that there was a strong suggestion that the technical support that the certification process brought to farmers may have been critical in supporting them to adopt more sustainable practices. It also suggested that certification often results in improved democratic organization and decision-making on farms and/or greater engagement with local communities. There was some evidence that certification and standards can contribute to the adoption of improved practices, which is typically expressed as a difference in practices between certified and non-certified entities. It must be stated, however, that most research was on the coffee and forestry industries and it is not known, therefore, how relevant the findings would be for other sectors such as aquaculture. The Systemic Impacts of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) were reported in an ISEAL White Paper (ISEAL Alliance 2018b). Working together with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the report stated that the WWF supports voluntary sustainability standards as part of its effort to reduce the negative impacts of commodity production and conserve the world’s biological diversity. It suggested that the ISEAL Alliance strengthens VSS in bringing about measurable change through credible standards systems and that there is increasing evidence of the certification impacts of VSS in the sectors they have been designed for. At the value-chain level, there are clear contributions of VSS to reduced operational costs and improved reputation. At the operational (i.e. producer) level, positive impacts include increased product quality, improved labor conditions and reduced water contamination. It also stated, however, that, although VSS are known to have a positive impact in areas where certified entities operate, evidence of systemic impacts of VSS on the environment is less convincing. Perhaps an alternative approach might be to ask farmers whether they have noticed any positive outcomes of certification. After ASC certification of his farm, the following is a quote from Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, Quality Assurance Manager, Thuan An Farm in Vietnam: “We have better disease control, better control of risks related to environmental pollution, escapes and safety in the workplace, and more effective communication with the local community.” International aquaculture certification is a complex and potentially confusing process. If the overall objective, however, is to demonstrate that products have been produced, processed and marketed in a responsible manner, then the most important thing is to check the credibility of the scheme being used. Although there is some evidence that certification schemes have produced some positive environmental and social outcomes, the evidence for this is still sparse. Perhaps this is where the schemes themselves need to accumulate more evidence to show the world that they can contribute to the future sustainability of seafood. Notes Peter Cook, Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, University of Western Australia and Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Perth, Australia; peter.cook@uwa.edu.au This article is based on a keynote presentation made at the plenary session of Aquaculture 2019 in New Orleans, LA on 8 March 2019. References FAO. 2011. Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification. FAO, Rome. 122 pp. ISEAL Alliance. 2014. Setting Social and Environmental Standards – ISEAL Code of Good Practice, version 6.0. https://www. isealalliance.org/sites/default/files/resource/2017-11/ISEAL_ Standard_Setting_Code_v6_Dec_2014.pdf ISEAL Alliance. 2018a. The Effectiveness of Standards in Driving Adoption of Sustainability Practices. https://www. standardsimpacts.org/sites/default/files/Insight_paper_ The_effectiveness_of_standards_in_driving_adoption_of_ sustainability_practices_FINAL.pdf ISEAL Alliance. 2018b. The Systemic Impacts of Voluntary Sustainability Standards. https://www.standardsimpacts.org/sites/ default/files/VSS-systemic-impacts-white-paper_Final-Oct-2018.pdf There was a strong suggestion that the technical support that the certification process brought to farmers may have been critical in supporting them to adopt more sustainable practices. It also suggested that certification often results in improved democratic organization and decision-making on farms and/or greater engagement with local communities.
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