Why should you buy an ​MSC certified fish and seafood?

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Why should you buy and MSC certified fish and seafood?

Seas and oceans are “plastified” more than ever. 10 Million tons of plastic are thrown into them per year. The life in seas and oceans never had been in bigger danger and today there are more than 700 marine species waiting for their last hour to come.

Besides this huge issue, there is one more. (yet, not so popular to talk about) – overfishing.

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What is overfishing? 

Overfishing is when too many fish are caught and there are not enough adults to breed and sustain a healthy population, the stock is overfished.

And what causes overfishing for example? Illegal fishing and destructive fishing (use of cyanide and explosives). In some countries, cyanide is used to stun fish making them easier to catch. Elsewhere, explosives like dynamite are used to kill fish so they float to the surface and can be easily scooped up by nets. I honestly think both of this things are horrible and I really hope I never ate fish which was caught like that 🙁

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So what can we (you, me) do to help protect the marine world?

• You must be cautious about what fish and seafood you buy. You should always check (ask your fishmonger) about the origin and the way how it was caught. Stay away from fish stores and markets which are not able to give you such an information. The fish and seafood should be from sustainable fisheries. 
• The second solution is very much connected to the first one. Always buy an MSC certified fish and seafood. The MSC blue fish label is a guarantee that the fish is from a reliable source. 

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And what precisely is the MSC certified fish and seafood?

“Wild, traceable, sustainable: the blue fish label is only applied to wild fish or seafood from fisheries that have been certified to the MSC Fisheries Standard, a science-based set of requirements for sustainable fishing”.

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)

Here are the 10 main reasons why should you buy a MSC certified fish and seafood.

1. Our oceans need to be protected – our oceans are home to an amazing variety of life and support the livelihoods of 1/10 of the world’s population.
2. Marine ecosystems are under enormous pressure – unsustainable fishing is threatening fish populations, ocean habitats, coastal fishing communities, and economies.
3. The MSC provides a solution – by choosing seafood with the blue MSC label you are supporting independently certified sustainable fisheries.
4. Sustainability is based on science – to be MSC certified, fisheries are independently assessed by scientists and marine experts.
5. You are helping to protect a whole ecosystem – it’s not all about one species – MSC certified fisheries minimize their impacts on the whole marine environment to ensure healthy, thriving oceans for the future.
6. You can buy with confidence – processors, retailers, and restaurants must ensure MSC certified seafood is not mixed with uncertified products.
7. There is plenty to choose from – you can enjoy sustainable seafood all over the world. Just look for the blue label.
8. There is a choice for every budget – products with the blue MSC label range from pickled herring to luxury caviar.
9. You are helping to create change – your purchases of MSC labeled seafood create an incentive for more fisheries, retailers, and restaurants to produce and sell certified sustainable seafood.
10. You are helping to keep it wild – you can enjoy your seafood knowing that tomorrow there will be plenty more where it came from.

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At the end of the day, we all are collectively responsible for the marine world we live behind to the next generations. And if a small step like buying an MSC certified fish and seafoodcan help to do that, we should all go for it. 

Last but not least, if you see the blue fish label on the package you can be sure that the products are coming from a good and certified source. They are regularly DNA tested, labeled and they are never mixed with non-certified products. And by the way, the MSC is the only wild-capture and ecolabeling program meeting the UNFAOand ISEALrequirements.

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And what about you? Are you buying the MSC certified fish and seafood? What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave your answers in a comment below. 

In this article, I used information from https://www.msc.org/home