The blue MSC label shows up on sustainable seafood worldwide. Here's what the certification actually requires, in plain language.
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You'll see "MSC Certified" mentioned in connection with some of the seafood LGF sources for Ocean2Table. It's one of the most recognized sustainability labels in the seafood industry worldwide, but like most certification badges, it's easy to see it without knowing what actually stands behind it.
Who runs it
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international non-profit, founded in the late 1990s by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Unilever, and it became a fully independent organization in 1999. It's headquartered in London and operates globally, it's not a Canadian or BC-specific program the way Ocean Wise largely is.
What certification actually requires
MSC certification isn't a one-time check. A fishery has to be independently assessed against the MSC Fisheries Standard, and Lions Gate Fisheries describes its own certification as upholding three core commitments:
- Sustaining the fish stocks it works with: not taking more than the population can replenish.
- Maintaining the surrounding ecosystem: in LGF's case, the BC Pacific Coast ecosystem, not just the target species.
- Managing the fishery effectively and responsibly: ongoing management, not a badge earned once and forgotten.
Fisheries are reassessed periodically to keep the certification, it isn't permanent by default.
How it's different from Ocean Wise
Both labels point toward sustainable seafood, but they work differently. Ocean Wise is a Canadian-founded recommendation and partnership program that assesses and advises on sourcing. MSC is a formal, third-party certification standard with its own independent audit process. A fishery can carry one, the other, or both, they aren't competing claims, they're different mechanisms aimed at a similar goal.
Why it matters for what you're buying
Wild-caught seafood sourcing claims vary a lot in how much substance is actually behind them. MSC certification means an independent body, not the company selling the fish, verified the sourcing against a published standard. That's a meaningfully different claim than a company simply saying its own seafood is "sustainably sourced."
Shop MSC-sourced seafood: Salmon · Whitefish & Groundfish
