Between them, the eight companies process three-quarters of the Alaska salmon supply. So after 29 October, when the current certification agreement runs out, products from one of the world’s major fisheries will no longer be carrying the MSC’s blue tick logo on their packaging.

“Reassessment is an expensive, time consuming and lengthy process, so Alaska salmon producers had to decide now whether continued MSC participation made sense or not,” said Jim Gilmore, public affairs director for the Seattle-based At-Sea Processors Association, which serves as the MSC client for the Alaska pollock fishery. Another of the world’s major fisheries, Alaska pollock is still MSC certified, but it sounds from this statement that serious consideration may be being given to its continuation.

The MSC is at pains to point out, of course, that it doesn’t receive any money from the certification process of fisheries against its standard. It just receives a 0.5 percent royalty on the wholesale value of consumer products that carry its label. Nevertheless, third-party certification and all the other costs involved mount up and are not insubstantial.  

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