Linking global certification schemes and local practices in fisheries and aquaculture

Global environmental certification systems base their legitimacy on consumer concerns, which are facilitated by non-governmental organisations and retailers, and which steer fishers and fish farmers to comply with pre-determined production standards. But while such information flows are clearly demonstrated in complying exporters, it is often less clear how the information is transferred from them to producers. Evidence suggests that in the absence of strong vertical integration, the link between exporters and producers remains a “black box”, confounding assumptions that producers have transparent access to global markets. In order for certification schemes to foster environmental and social sustainability in fisheries and aquaculture, new arrangements for engaging local practices and relations of production and trade are needed