Environment-focused news outlet DeSmog is standing by its claims of conflicts of interest impacting the MarinTrust fishmeal and fish oil certification scheme.
DeSmog’s recent investigative report, “Revealed: Industry-led West Africa Fishery Protection Measures Marred By ‘Massive Conflicts of Interest,” accused MarinTrust and other initiatives formed by the industry group IFFO – The Marine Ingredients Organization of suffering from encroachment from industry interests. It also criticized a lack of civil society representation on the standards and technical committee governing the MarinTrust’s certification standards.
MarinTrust unveiled updated standards for its marine ingredient certification in October 2023 that it said laid the foundation toward a fully traceable marine ingredient supply chain with a focus on both environmental and social impacts – both at the factory and vessel level.
DeSmog’s U.K. editor, Hazel Healy, told SeafoodSource that though independent, third-party auditors perform MarinTrust program certification, the aquafeed companies they certify “sit on committees that set and oversee the standards being audited.”
In its response to SeafoodSource’s request for comment on the DeSmog report, MarinTrust said it “provides assurances that certified marine ingredients are responsibly sourced and produced, not that they are sustainable.”
This, Healy said, is a “pretty Pontius Pilate response.”
“I guess they are making the point that with many of these schemes, they set the bar very low and aim for improvements, so sustainability is hard, along with accountability, to achieve in this context,” Healy said.
MarinTrust Executive Chair Libby Woodhatch said MarinTrust’s model is in “setting the standard, not granting certificates” and also stressed “MarinTrust’s unit of certification is the facility, not the company or the fishery.”
Healy said MarinTrust sent a similar statement to DeSmog. She said MarinTrust “didn’t ...
