Organic Insights Magazine - Summer 2022

Organic Insights / Summer 2022 / 7

what value does organic certification have in the seafood industry?

certification for the labels to be able to be used to establish environmental credentials. But the question begs, is this the reality of all sustainable labelling in the seafood industry? In 2020, Canada-based environmental advocacy group SeaChoice undertook research that looked at eco-labelling in the industry. Across 18 retailers, they discovered 234 environmental claims across 181 seafood products. The report noted that 55 of these were based on certification schemes (third- party audited), 77 were endorsement claims (meeting threshold claims without third party audit i.e., harvest methodology, place of origin) and 102 were self-declarations (no independent oversight). Where does organic certification sit in all this? The inclusion of ‘aquatic animals’ in organic standards gained early recognition in several countries in the 1990’s, with the first global organic aquaculture criteria established later by the International Federation of Organic

Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) in 2000. In terms of organic standards, ‘Fish’ are treated in 3 categories – wild fish, farmed fish (also known as aquaculture) and shellfish (both farmed and wild) including molluscs, seaweed, fish, crustaceans, and echinoderms. While wild fish are not covered, farmed fish and shellfish are viewed as aquatic ‘livestock’ with organic standards covering the value chain of growing, processing, packing, importing, distributing, and retailing. The aquaculture industry is increasingly moving to demonstrate its sustainability credentials - as a broader move to meet consumer demand, to maintain social license and to take advantage of market incentives in terms of price premiums. In Australia and international markets, alongside the recognised NCO Spring Leaf label, there are several established conventional certification schemes in place,

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