Sustainable seafood certification addresses ecological impact but rarely welfare; integrating welfare standards into sustainable seafood certification would advance both dimensions simultaneously.
The sustainable seafood movement has achieved significant success in building consumer awareness and industry accountability for ecological impacts of fishing and aquaculture. However, the gap between sustainability certification and welfare certification means that products can be sustainably certified while involving significant welfare harms. Fish welfare and ecological sustainability are not the same thing, but they are related: ecologically sound fishing methods that minimize bycatch also minimize non-target species welfare harm. Integrating welfare standards into sustainability certification schemes would leverage existing consumer engagement with sustainable seafood to advance welfare simultaneously.