Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch – Fishery Assessments and Reports

What is it?

Each report contains an assessment of whether both targeted and incidentally caught species are maintained at levels that allow the species to fulfill their ecological roles, habitat, and ecosystems are maintained, and a management system is in place to ensure the long-term productivity of the resource and integrity of the ecosystem.

The assessment criteria are:

1. Impacts on the stock – evaluates the fishery’s impacts on the stock that is being assessed and incorporates the current abundance of the stock and the fishing mortality i.e., whether overfishing is occurring;
2. Impacts on other species – evaluates the same factors as impacts on stock, but applies them to bycatch and other species that are caught by the fishery. This includes an assessment of discards and bait use;
3. Management effectiveness – assesses the harvest strategy to control fishing pressure, including bycatch management, enforcement, and stakeholder engagement; and,
4. Impacts on habitats and ecosystems – assesses the fishery’s impact on the seafloor and how it is being reduced as well as other indirect ecosystem and trophic impacts.

How to use it?

Although the species generally focus on those available for retail, they include fisheries used as a source of trimmings and some reduction fisheries such as krill. As a result, they can be used as a risk indicator for these sources when used in aquaculture feed.

The fishery assessments classify the above four criteria subscores out of ten with an associated green, yellow, red, and critical rating. These four criteria sub-scores are then translated into a final score and an associated Seafood Watch rating of Best Choice, Good Alternative, or Avoid.