International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade 2014
Conference, Brisbane 7-11 July 2014
Will third party certification
provide benefits to Australian
domestic fisheries?
Sevaly Sen
Research Officer
Sydney Fish Market
AUSTRALIAN DOMESTIC FISHERIES
Figure 1 Catches of Australian wild caught fish (mt)
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
NSW DPI
2009–10
Total exports
2010–11
Total domestic
2011–12
Figure 2 Value of catches of Australian wild caught
fish (‘000 AU$)
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
2009–10
Total exports
FRDC
2010–11
Total domestic
2011–12
AUSTRALIAN DOMESTIC FISHERIES
Figure 3 Population density of Australia 2013 (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 2013)
FRDC
• Many small scale inshore fisheries selling to
domestic market
• Competition and conflict with other coastal
zone users
• Consistent and robust management
frameworks
• Cost recovery
NSW DPI
NEED FOR THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATION IS AN ONGOING
DISCOURSE
• Currently 140 fisheries, 7 certified of
which two are domestic market
focused
• Most fisheries assessed against ESD
guidelines under federal Environment
Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act
• Major retailers/wholesalers and
seafood consumers not insisting on
certification – internal assessments
based on publicly available
information
• Western Australia is subsidising costs
of certification for all fisheries
• Interest in a national fisheries
FRDC
management standard
BENEFITS OF THIRD PARTY
CERTIFICATION
Market
Walmart U.S. and
Sam’s Club require all
fresh and frozen,
farmed and wild
seafood suppliers to
become third-party
certified as
sustainable
- Walmart website
FRDC
“The Australian arm of
prawn farmer Charoen
Pokphand Foods
denounces slavery
and promises audit of
its supply chain”
Greenpeace
MARKET BENEFITS
Access
•Australians prefer to buy domestic
•Certification not a condition of access
Share
•Domestic supplies are limited
•Certification constrains supply
Position
•Most seafood consumers believe that local supplies are
from sustainable sources
•Origin is important
•Wholesalers/retailers undertaking internal assessments
FRDC
REPUTATIONAL RISK (Corporate)
Assurance
• Company following international best
practice
Differentiation
• From competitors that are not certified
Preventative action
• From attention of advocacy
groups/negative media
FRDC
SOCIAL LICENCE
FRDC
CONCLUSIONS
Benefits
• Market benefits yet to be
demonstrated
• Maintenance of social licence
provided the scheme
regarded as legitimate by
stakeholders.
• May encourage continuous
improvement in fisheries
management
Costs
• Relatively low value fisheries so
ability to pay costs of certification
limited: external financial
assistance/subsidies needed. Is
this a sustainable strategy?
• Some disconnect between those
that pay for third party
certification (the catching sector)
and those that may benefit from
these processes (the wholesalers
and retailers).
• Fisheries that want certification
may “drain” limited research
resources from other fisheries
CONCLUSIONS
Research is ongoing to explore alternative cost effective fisheries
management assurance pathways suited to the Australian domestic fisheries
context.
This includes:
 Customising/tailoring existing third party schemes to include small scale
data limited fisheries
 Exploring the feasibility of a national fisheries management standard
 Undertaking a national benchmarking exercise
Thank you