Ecolabels and Sustainability in the Seafood Sector: Key Elements of the Debate and Shortcomings

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The global seafood sector is a cornerstone of nutrition worldwide, but is increasingly challenged by critical sustainability issues such as overfishing, marine pollution, and the pervasive effects of climate change. To address these concerns, a range of regulatory and management strategies have been introduced—including fishing quotas, protected marine areas, the growth of sustainable aquaculture, enhanced monitoring systems, and initiatives to promote responsible consumption.

Within this landscape, ecolabels have gained prominence as influential tools designed to guide consumer choices toward sustainability. Yet, their impact remains constrained by limited consumer understanding, fragmented regulatory frameworks, and the insufficient incorporation of comprehensive environmental and social criteria.

Toward Unified Environmental Footprints

Efforts such as the European Union’s Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) for marine fish, initiated in 2014 and finalized in draft form by 2019, mark important progress in quantifying seafood’s environmental impact. Yet experts caution that current frameworks primarily focus on environmental metrics like carbon footprints, overlooking broader sustainability issues such as social equity and economic viability.

Other standards, including ISO guidelines and specific Product Category Rules (PCRs), also provide environmental assessment tools but leave major seafood groups—such as mollusks and crustaceans—largely unaddressed.

The Consumer Communication Challenge

While ecolabels like the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), and Friend of the Sea (FOS) are widely recognized, researchers note that consumers often struggle to understand what these certifications truly represent. Many labels serve as simple “proxies,” signaling external verification without providing accessible, detailed information on sustainability criteria.

This complexity is compounded by the absence of a cohesive regulatory framework. Current policies, including the EU’s Regulation 1379/2013 on seafood labeling and transparency, make strides in promoting traceability and informed choices but fall short of integrating comprehensive environmental and social data.

Figure 1. Key elements of discussion surrounding the seafood sector and ecolabels.

Bridging the Gaps with Innovation

Experts advocate for a multi-pronged approach to address these challenges. Expanding certification criteria to include critical issues like marine plastic pollution and climate adaptation is seen as essential. Meanwhile, technologies such as blockchain show promise for enhancing supply chain transparency and automating compliance verification. Innovative “Nexus labels,” which combine carbon, water, and energy footprints with nutritional information, represent a forward-thinking direction that could simplify consumer choices while integrating various sustainability standards. Such approaches also aim to reduce costs and certification complexity, making ecolabelling more accessible to small-scale producers, often disadvantaged under current systems.

The Social Dimension and Consumer Awareness

Beyond environmental factors, the review highlights pressing socio-economic issues such as illegal fishing, aging fishing communities, and food loss and waste. Consumer studies reveal growing awareness and willingness to pay premiums for sustainably certified seafood, particularly among younger demographics. However, “food illiteracy” and information asymmetry remain barriers.

There is an increasing call for ecolabels to become more than just marketing tools—offering verifiable, easy-to-understand information and actively educating consumers at points of sale. Partnerships with retailers, NGOs, and governments are recommended to subsidize certification costs and support sustainable practices, especially for small-scale fisheries.

Figure 2. Sustainability dimensions and their relevance in fisheries.

Looking Ahead

Despite the advances and extensive research on ecolabelling, the seafood sector continues to face complex challenges requiring integrated solutions. The review concludes with a call for harmonized governance frameworks, greater transparency, and innovations that connect scientific rigor with consumer-friendly communication.

As global seafood consumption rises, ensuring that ecolabels truly reflect sustainable practices—and that consumers understand and trust them—will be critical in steering the industry toward a more resilient and ethical future.

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