Potential Costs and Benefits of Fisheries Certification for countries in the Asia/Pacific region Asia/Pacific

FAO RAP - Project Dates:
November 2006 - April 2007

Description of Project:
At the APFIC 29th Session (21-24 August 2006) in Kuala Lumpur, member countries recommended that APFIC’s work should focus on 'certification in fisheries' as one of the emerging issues for the fisheries sector in the region. To follow this recommendation this consultancy assessed the potential costs and benefits of fisheries certification for countries in the Asia/Pacific region.

Services Provided:
An overview was provided of current global fisheries certification schemes, and regional, national, or fisheries specific certification initiatives of relevance to the Asia/Pacific region. This overview included social and environmental schemes, as well as comment on branding, quality, audit requirements and traceability. A review was then provided of the responsiveness of different markets to different schemes, and the hypothetical and demonstrated costs/benefits of different schemes. A Strategy matrix was then provided for some key export fisheries in the region, based on the analysis above and the products and market destinations involved, to make recommendations about which schemes should be pursued. In addition, the study considered operational/implementation issues associated with different schemes in developing country and data poor contexts, with recommendations about potential solutions to such issues, especially with regard to sustainable sources of financing.