Certify Sustainable Aquaculture?

Abstract

Certification's limited contribution to sustainable aquaculture should complement public and private governance.

Governance challenges of cocoa partnership projects in Indonesia: seeking synergy in multi-stakeholder arrangements for sustainable agriculture

“…One of the ambitions is to positively influence the livelihood of smallholder farmers as the main producers of these commodities. Through various forms of voluntary private governance, occasionally with involvement of Northern governments, these partnerships have become important initiators of sustainable change in the production of coffee (Auld 2010;Kolk 2012;Manning et al 2012), palm oil (Schouten and Glasbergen 2011;Brandi et al 2013;Oosterveer 2014;Hospes 2014;Wijaya and Glasbergen 2016), tea (Glasbergen 2013;IDH 2013), cocoa (Bitzer et al 2012;KPMG 2013;Vaast and Somarriba 2014), aquaculture (Hatanaka 2010;Douma and van Wijk 2012; Van der Geest and Unno 2012; Bush et al 2013) and cotton (i.e., Bitzer and Glasbergen 2010).…”

Governances and Invisibilities: Interests and Rationalities in the Socio-Environmental Regulation of Salmon Farming in Chile

“…Islam (2008) expresses concern over the exclusionary tendencies in these processes: barriers in language, access, costs, time, or resources that limit the participation of relevant actors from the Global South who bear local interests and rationalities. When they do participate, they are hardly able to influence the results (Bush et al, 2013). Likewise, some actors voluntarily exclude themselves as they disagree with the work approach, and particularly with the type of rationalities that are privileged.…”

“…These involve i) standardized norms; ii) traceability and auditing; iii) labeling; and iv) institutions -generally private organizations-that perform these functions (Bush et al, 2013). The procedures are designed to be objective, transparent, and replicable.…”

“…Second, the choices made by traditional environmental groups, such as the WWF, of abandoning their traditional focus on the State to mobilize the environmental and ethical criteria of retailers and consumers (Vandergeest, 2007). Third, certifications being viewed by global retailing as a response to the socio-environmental campaigns that threaten their brands (Bush et al, 2013). Thus the oligopsonic nature of supermarket chains and the competition between them in terms of quality (Busch & Bain, 2004) has promoted the regulation of suppliers.…”

“…Belton et al (2011) add that work becomes invisible, as permanent employment rates in fattening plants tend to be lower than in other stages of the production chain. On the other hand, the voluntary nature of certifications affects the production of enclaves that would improve environmental and working conditions in a limited space, but not so the general conditions of the aquaculture sector (Bush et al, 2013). Therefore, they would generate a rift between large and small aquaculture operators, limiting the latter's access to markets, with lower socio-environmental gains.…”