Sustainable Fisheries Governance and Certification

Sustainable fisheries governance encompasses the policies, institutions and practices that ensure marine and freshwater resources are managed to maintain ecological integrity, economic viability and social equity. This includes national and regional regulatory frameworks, rights-based management approaches, ecosystem-based fisheries management and participatory decision-making involving fishers, communities and other stakeholders. Certification schemes and eco-labelling programmes have emerged as market-based tools to complement regulatory measures. By applying science-based criteria, independent audits and chain-of-custody requirements, these schemes aim to verify that seafood products originate from fisheries operating within sustainable biological limits and adhering to responsible management practices. Certification can incentivise improvements in stock assessment, bycatch reduction, habitat protection and traceability while offering consumers transparent information. The integration of digital traceability technologies further enhances supply-chain visibility, enabling rapid identification of product origins and compliance with environmental and social standards. Together, robust governance and credible certification mechanisms contribute to healthier fish stocks, enhanced livelihoods and resilient coastal economies.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Sustainable Fisheries Governance and Certification publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in sustainable fisheries governance and certification across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ecolabelling: A market-based certification process that assigns a label to seafood products meeting predefined sustainability criteria.

Traceability: The ability to track the origin, subsequent handling and distribution of seafood products throughout the supply chain.

Chain of Custody: The documented sequence of custody, control and transfer of certified seafood from capture to final sale to ensure product integrity.

Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP): A collaborative, multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at addressing sustainability challenges in non-certified fisheries to achieve certification standards.

Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY): The largest catch that can be continuously taken from a fish stock under existing environmental conditions without compromising future yields.

References

1. Information practices for improved sustainability assurance in Vietnamese shrimp aquaculture. Journal of Rural Studies (2023).
2. What does “sustainable seafood” mean to seafood system actors in Japan and Sweden?. Ambio (2025).
3. The Expanding Role of Traceability in Seafood: Tools and Key Initiatives. Journal of Food Science (2017).
4. What do we know about the impacts of the Marine Stewardship Council seafood ecolabelling program? A systematic map. Environmental Evidence (2020).