What’s in a Claim?
Making responsible environmental
marketing claims in the seafood marketplace
What’s in a Claim?
Matt Thompson, New England Aquarium
Amy Jackson, ISEAL Alliance
Katie Miller, ClientEarth
Phil Gibson, Responsible Seafood Solutions LLC
Moderator: James Wright, SeafoodSource
What’s in a Claim?
∗ Matt Thompson
Aquaculture Project Lead
New England Aquarium
Sustainable Seafood Programs
Boston, Mass., USA
What’s in a Claim?
Matt Thompson, New England Aquarium
∗ NEAq research into FTC Guidelines and sustainability.
∗ Defining essential certification requirements for market acceptance
through multi-stakeholder processes.
∗ Drawing together perspectives on best practices and opportunities
for using market claims as tools to maximize environmental
improvement.
What’s in a Claim?
∗ Amy Jackson
Senior Credibility Manager
ISEAL Alliance
London, UK
What’s in a Claim?
Amy Jackson, ISEAL Alliance
∗ Currently preparing a Guide to Understanding Sustainability
Claims for buyers
∗ Recently finished global consultation on how to run a credible claims
system for sustainability standards — Good Practice Guide Q2/Q3
2015
∗ Led development of the 10 Credibility Principles — refer to these to
guide decisions about claims
What’s in a Claim?
∗ Katie Miller
Sustainable Seafood Coalition
Coordinator
ClientEarth
London, UK
What’s in a Claim?
Katie Miller, Client Earth
∗ The Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC) covers the UK supply
chain and has two codes of conduct
∗ Sourcing Code: responsible sourcing decisions
∗ Labeling Code: harmonized environmental claims
What’s in a Claim?
∗ Phil Gibson
Principle Owner
Responsible Seafood
Solutions
San Ramon, Calif., USA
What’s in a Claim?
Phil Gibson, Responsible Seafood Solutions
∗ Recently developed the sustainable seafood procurement program for
Raley’s Supermarkets, a 130-store chain in Northern California
∗ Currently building the sustainable seafood procurement program for a
major North American seafood producer that will be launched this year
∗ Consulting with a major seafood distributor to bring smaller, wellmanaged fisheries product to market
What’s in a Claim?
Topics of discussion:
∗ ‘Sustainable’ vs. ‘Responsible’
∗ Differences between certifications and rankings
∗ Harmonized rules across markets (USA/UK/EU)
∗ Benchmarks, improvement projects, more
What’s in a Claim?
∗ Should there be distinct, regulated differences
between the claims “sustainable” and
“responsible?” How are these claims
quantified, and should there be minimum
expectations for these claims? Do they
pertain to different things?
What’s in a Claim?
∗ What are the biggest differences between
claims made around certifications, or eco-labels
and sustainability rankings (Seafood Watch and
other red lists)? Do consumers understand
what each means? What about FIPs and AIPs?
Should claims be allowed for products from
those fisheries/farms?
What’s in a Claim?
∗ Is there a case for a harmonized set of
sustainability-claims regulations across
international markets (USA, UK, EU)? What
are the obstacles and potential solutions?
What’s in a Claim?
∗ When the Global Seafood Sustainability
Initiative completes its benchmarking tool for
seafood certification schemes, should GSSI
state which marketing claims — “sustainable,”
“responsible” and “ocean-friendly,” for example
— can be used?