Corrected numbers and assumptions for understanding MSC certified fishery withdrawals: Commentary on Pierucci et al.

Pierucci et al.’s 2022 paper titled “A global review of MSC certification: Why fisheries withdraw?” states that 96 % of fisheries leave the MSC program during the assessment period or first two years of certification. The authors suggest deficiencies in the pre-assessment process or “the high initial costs of certification” may explain the high rate of withdrawal during the assessment period. Our response highlights methodological flaws in their study that bias estimates of withdrawn fisheries by nearly two-fold and subsequently invalidate their conclusions relating to fisheries not yet certified. Here we provide a detailed understanding of the multiple, intersecting improvement pathways that a fishery might take before and after certification to help clarify which barriers to certification are most likely to be at play during different stages of engagement with a sustainable seafood certification scheme. We explore how these barriers vary for different types of fisheries and in geographies with different markets, including disproportionate challenges to sustainable fisheries management, and how global efforts are required to address these inequities.