SEAFOOD WATCH: REVISED
CRITERIA FOR AQUACULTURE
REVISED CRITERIA LIST
Peter Bridson* & Ariel Zajdband C1 – Data quality and availability
C2 – Effluent
C2 The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has developed a revised criteria
with which to assess the ecological sustainability of all types and scales of aquaculture
production.
The mission of Seafood Watch (SFW) is to empower seafood consumers and businesses to
make choices for healthy oceans. SFW provides seafood purchasing recommendations by
assessing wild caught and farmed seafood products for sustainability. Each species is
analyzed
l d by
b compiling
l the
h most robust
b scientific
f information
f
on the
h species and
d production
d
system and applying it to the SFW sustainability criteria for wild caught and farmed species.
Revised criteria for assessing the environmental aspects of aquaculture operations will be
released in early 2012.
The criteria can apply to all aquaculture species and production systems, and all scales from
individual farms to regional, national or international industries. The revised SFW criteria
for aquaculture is composed of eight individual criteria, each associated with a major issue
or potential environmental impact of aquaculture.
Each criterion receives a score from 0‐10 and the scoring for each factor and each criterion
has been structured so that the top third relate to good practices with no significant
impacts or conservation concerns (green); the lower third relates to a serious conservation
concern (red), and the middle concern implies an impact occurs, but it is within the
carrying capacity of the affected ecosystem (yellow). The overall score combines the
individual
d d l criterion scores in an arithmetic
h
mean, but
b other
h scoring rules
l are also
l applied
l d
relating to the number of individual ‘red’ criteria. As a result, one of three potential
seafood recommendations is generated: Best Choice (green overall), Good Alternative
(yellow overall) or Avoid (red overall). Despite the new numerical scoring system, the
fundamental philosophy behind the scoring and ranking system for the revised criteria is
the same as that of the previous criteria. Furthermore, the ‘bar’ of red, yellow and green
continues to represent the conservation ethic of the program.
2.1a. Biological waste production per ton of fish
2.1b. Production System discharge score
2.2. Management of farm‐level and cumulative impacts and appropriateness to the scale of the industry
C3 – Habitats
3.1. Habitat conversion and function
3.2. Habitat and farm siting management effectiveness
3.2. Habitat and farm siting management effectiveness (appropriate to the scale of the industry)
3.3X. Wildlife and predator mortality
C4 – Chemical Use
C5 – Feed
5.1. Wild Fish Use
5.2. Net protein gain or loss
53 F dF t i t
5.3. Feed Footprint
C6 – Escapes
6.1a. Escape Risk
6.1b. Invasiveness
6.2X. Unintentionally introduced species
C7 – Disease
C8 – Source of stock
C8 Source of stock
Exceptional factors
(only apply to few systems)
How we develop Seafood Watch Recommendations
The revised criteria provide a tool to assess and highlight the ecological impacts and costs,
and therefore help inform and understand the ecological sustainability of different
aquaculture systems. The full Seafood Watch criteria are available at
www.seafoodwatch.org.
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Contact us:
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.seafoodwatch.org