“Sustainably caught” is a food label selective consumers will pay extra for at the seafood counter. But is it really sustainable?
A new study concludes most fish don’t meet that definition, at least when measured against standards recognized by the United Nations under its Sustainable Development Goals program.
“The world is changing fast, and fisheries management, as presently practiced, largely lacks measures to ensure long-term ecological resilience and social equity in not only sustainable, but also ethical fisheries,” states the study published in npj Ocean Sustainability.
“We must transition towards viewing fishing as a privilege, rather than a right,” said 30 researchers led by Callum Roberts, a professor of marine conservation at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
