October 1, 2013 — When the big Alaska processors decided not to renew their Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification last year it sent shock waves through the industry. Confident in its own sustainability efforts, Alaska adopted Responsible Fishery Management (RFM) guidelines for its third-party certification.
What wasn’t expected was how the decision would displease Walmart. The retail giant said in June that it might stop shopping there. Its internal regulations on sustainable seafood sourcing dictated it could not buy from fisheries without MSC certification or equivalent standards established in fishery improvement projects (FIP’s) working toward MSC certification.
And though other seafood retailers have bought from FIPs for some time, none are so big as the Bentonville, Ark., chain, which set a 2006 goal of purchasing 100 percent of its seafood from MSC-certified fisheries.
That decision didn’t sit well with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). Alaska fisheries are not only recognized as a model for sustainability, ASMI says, its fisheries have no plans of deviating from the demanding and proven program: RFM was now, and would remain, its third-party certification scheme.
That scenario proved problematic for Walmart. According to Senior Manager of Sustainability Communications Christopher Schrader, Walmart was unfamiliar with the RFM standards, and without knowing that policy’s particulars, the retailer couldn’t be certain Alaska salmon still met its sustainability criteria. Schrader insists the company is not in this quandary by choice.
“We’re not taking a position around Alaska fisheries,” Schrader says. “The question has become, how do we collectively ensure that the seafood we’re sourcing today is sustainable and available for generations to come? To answer that, we have to have a clearer understanding.”
ASMI Executive Director Mike Cerne understands that. But what bothers him is Walmart’s presumption that switching to a new certification source makes Alaska salmon a dubious commodity. Why, he asks, would Walmart potentially shift its purchases away from proven providers to fisheries only now working toward MSC standards?
“We feel it’s very important that they recognize how sustainable Alaska’s fisheries are already,” says Cerne, who, while being interviewed, was preparing to meet with Walmart executives.
Cerne believes Alaska’s longstanding reputation for sustainable fisheries should exempt its industry from third-party certification entirely, but he also understands Walmart’s predicament.
Read the full story at Seafood Business Magazine