Marine Stewardship Council: Concept Of Sustainability

Emily Doores NTRES 1101 Discussion Essay: Sustainable Confusion “Sustainability” is a word which has been defined in many ways. As stated on the MSC website, the Marine Stewardship Council defines sustainability as “good management practices to safeguard jobs, secure fish stocks for the future and help to protect the marine environment.” The supermarket Wegmans has their own idea of sustainability, which they state on their website as “making decisions that promote the long term well-being of our people, the environment and our company.” The goal for the MSC is to use their “ecolabel and fishery certification program to contribute to the health of the world’s oceans by recognizing and rewarding sustainable fishing practices.” In order

Based on their “Principles”, it seems as if the MSC assumes that satisfying these principles are easily accomplished for many companies. It is not explained on the document how a company might go about satisfying these criteria. It just states that they must be satisfied in order to be certified. For many companies, it could be very expensive to put in place all the required measures. Sustainability, in itself, is not an easily attainable feat. The MSC seems to be assuming, as many corporations do, that, as stated in “The Sociology of Sustainable Development”, “sustainable development only requires slight modifications to existing modes of production, existing political structures, and existing values”(pg. 5). In regards to the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic), the MSC seems to be mostly focused on the environmental aspect. In all of their principles, the main intentions are for the well-being of the ocean. Principle 1 states that “a fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion