Rose Snapper.
López
International Sustainability Certification
In 2015 the Bejuco snapper fishery underwent a full assessment by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The certification process was discontinued, however, in 2016 due to serious national governance shortcomings. Because of the difficulty for many small-scale fisheries to satisfy the rigorous requirements of the MSC, Fair Trade USA has developed a Capture Fisheries Program that combines the MSC's environmental standards with robust social requirements. The certification process is gradual and allows fisheries to develop the tools necessary to comply with the standard's requirements over a 6 year period rather than all at once at the time of assessment like the MSC requires. The Fair Trade process better addresses the social and management realities within which the majority of artisanal fisheries operate. Because of this, fishers and value chain stakeholders have begun an initial Fair Trade pre-evaluation of the fishery. This solution's certification building block has undergone many changes throughout the years, but project members feel they are making headway towards viable, long-term socio-economic improvements which have, since the beginning of the MSC process, been the driving force behind the certification initiative.
All project stakeholders must understand the Fair Trade process including the responsibilities pertaining to its price premium. Fishers must see it as a unique and useful tool to better develop the fishery in the face of an uncertain future. Project stakeholders must also be capable of fundraising a considerable amount of money finance the assessment process.
Not all project stakeholders will immediately see the benefits of a certification. Constant communication with key fishery members is essential to keep the process moving forward. Years have passed since the Bejuco bottom longline fishery went through the failed MSC process and a lot of money has had to be raised to continue on the path to a potential future certification. Strong project administration is essential to maintaining these efforts.
Global fishery certifications are an evolving entity. Given the social and environmental complexities of the world's fisheries, there can be on one silver bullet certification. Slowly, certification systems have realized this and begun to adapt to the specific needs of small-scale fisheries. The Bejuco snapper fishery has lived this process since 2011 and has accumulated a long list of lessons learned too long to fully detail on this webpage!!