Thank you very much for having us here today to talk about eco-certification.
My name is Kevin Stringer, I'm the assistant deputy minister for ecosystems and fisheries management. On my left is Eric Gilbert, director general for aquaculture management. On my right is Nadia Bouffard, director general for external relations. On her right is Jean Landry, acting director general for ecosystems and oceans science. We're very pleased to be here today to speak to you and to hear your questions about the timely topic of eco-certification of wild-capture and aquaculture fisheries. I have a few opening remarks and then we'll all be happy to take questions and comments, etc.
To give you a bit of background, Canada first witnessed this trend to eco-certification in the forestry sector in the early 1990s when markets, primarily in Europe, began demanding that forest products they purchased come from forestry operations that were certified as sustainable by third parties.
Ecocertification organizations targeting fisheries, first started in Europe, appeared in the late 1990s. As in forestry, European retailers and buyers were first to signal their preference to purchase products from certified fisheries. Thus the first Canadian fisheries to seek ecocertification were those with significant exports to Europe—shrimp and Pacific salmon.
The first Canadian fishery certified was a northern prawn trawl fishery in 2008. Since then, the number of Canadian fisheries that have received eco-certification from the Marine Stewardship Council—established in 1997, it's the global leader in fishery certification—has grown to 24. Twenty-four Canadian fisheries are certified, which places Canada near the top in the number of certified fisheries and represents about 50% of the landings of commercial fisheries in Canada. Another eight Canadian fisheries, including inshore lobster, are under assessment now.
Not all markets or buyers within those markets demand products from eco-certified fisheries. Outside of North America and Europe, the demand is weakest but is showing some growth. Seeking fishery certification is a voluntary market-driven business decision. Once a fishery decides to pursue certification, it enters into a contract with a third party organization approved to conduct the assessment against the independent certification standard of the certifying organization.
During the assessment of a fishery, the role of Fisheries and Oceans Canada is an enabling one. DFO provides the management information and the science data that's needed to meet the information requirements of the fishery assessment. When a fishery is certified, DFO works with it to make any improvements identified as a condition of the assessment of that fishery. No fishery in the world has received MSC certification without some conditions to undertake improvements. The central aim of eco-certification organizations, they say, is to make use of the market to drive improvements in the sustainability of fisheries.
As the results to date have shown, Canada's fishery management system including its stock assessment program, science-based decision making, new sustainable fishery policies and management plans and tools have placed Canadian fisheries on a solid footing to achieve ecocertification.
Ecocertification has put pressure on fisheries and on DFO to meet demands for improvements but for the most part these have been consistent with DFO's own direction on sustainability.
While the Marine Stewardship Council standard has been the leading fishery certification standard for more than 10 years, demanded by more retailers and buyers than any other in the world, other organizations also now have a growing influence. The responsible fisheries certification program, which has been adopted by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Council and Iceland, is a third party certification model that's starting to gain some recognition in European markets.
Other organizations are using different methods to try to encourage improvements in fisheries through campaigns to influence the seafood buying decisions of consumers, restaurants, retailers and others. The Monterey Bay Sea Aquarium (U.S.) Seafood Watch Program assesses and rates fisheries and aquaculture in North America and elsewhere and publishes its recommendations on fish species to buy or avoid.
It's important to note that certification for aquaculture is different. For aquaculture, the unit of certification is the individual operator, and the elements being certified may be more wide-ranging. Aquaculture certification encompasses food safety, animal welfare, and socio-economic aspects, in addition to environmental issues. In addition, fishing companies can combine resources to pay certification costs, whereas aquaculture producers must pay individually for certification of each farm site, hatchery, feed mill, or processing plant.
Among the different groups, and there are many of them, the Global Aquaculture Alliance's best aquaculture practices standard has had the most uptake, especially among salmon farmers. All Atlantic salmon farmers in B.C. and several in New Brunswick are certified under that program. This standard was developed by a committee that included industry representatives as well as environmental groups such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Marine Conservation Society.
With aquaculture's standards now fully developed, Fisheries and Oceans Canada continues to track the companies that are moving into or adding to their certifications. The latest information indicates that the majority of aquaculture production in Canada is certified to one or more internationally recognized programs.
All salmon farms are certified, as is the entire mussel industry in Newfoundland and Labrador and most of Ontario's rainbow trout production. There are 22 companies in Canada that have achieved organic certification.
In sum, the market demand for proof of the sustainability of products from wild capture and from aquaculture facilities, primarily through eco-certification, has been with us for the last decade and has continued to grow. Eco-certification, many believe, is here to stay. It has become, many people in industry believe, a cost of doing business for many fisheries and aquaculture operations and has become increasingly important for market access.
We'd be happy to answer any questions. We are at your disposal.
Thanks very much.