Sustainable seafood certifications address environmental impact but largely ignore fish welfare, creating a gap between consumer expectations and what certifications actually guarantee.
The sheer scale of commercial fishing — over a trillion fish annually — combined with capture and killing methods that cause prolonged suffering, makes wild-caught fish welfare one of the largest unaddressed welfare concerns in food systems. Sustainable certifications that address environmental impact without considering fish welfare create a false sense that certified products are animal-welfare positive. Consumers motivated by animal welfare who choose MSC-certified fish over uncertified alternatives may be making an environmentally positive choice with no corresponding welfare benefit for the fish involved.