Story | 15 September 2026
What’s in a label? New study examines whether seafood ecolabels can truly support sustainability in fishing
Can a seafood ecolabel really make fishing more sustainable? New research reveals what makes schemes work for fishers – and ultimately our ocean.
Seafood consumption can support a healthy diet – and is a vital source of protein for many across the globe – yet seafood production has significant environmental consequences.
For a seafood producer, a sustainability label – or ‘ecolabel’ – might sound like a straightforward win: consumers can identify responsibly caught seafood, and fishers could potentially increase the demand of their catches – and receive a higher price. But new research, led by PML, suggests the reality is far more complicated.
What is an ecolabel?
Ecolabelling schemes are a market-based tool, used for over three decades to promote sustainable fishing practices. Such schemes aim to increase the information available to consumers regarding the sustainability of the products, encouraging them to buy more sustainable seafood.
By creating a market, or increasing the selling power, of sustainably produced seafood, ecolabels aim to incentivise producers to adopt more sustainable fishing practices. Evidence regarding the impact of such schemes on the supply chain is mixed, with the majority of ecolabelling studies predominately focused on buying intentions at a consumer level.
A new study, led by PML’s Dr Océane Marcone, has examined the factors underpinning the success – or lack of success – of seafood ecolabels for fishermen.
Dr Marcone, who is a social scientist with a focus on economics, specialises in the sustainable management of marine resources and the resilience of coastal communities and marine sectors, such as seafood production.
The study focused on the English county of Cornwall, where researchers interviewed 22 seafood producers – 21 involved in wild-capture fisheries and one aquaculture producer – about their decisions to participate, or not, in ecolabelling schemes.
Image: Fishing boats pictured at low tide at the harbour of St Ives, Cornwall. The seafood sector is key to Cornwall (and Isles of Scilly), with 2.9% of jobs depending on seafood (versus 0.7% of UK jobs). In 2024, 21.8 kilotonnes of seafood were landed in Cornwall (and Isles of Scilly), for a value of £54.3 million.
The study adopted a novel approach; instead of focusing on a single ecolabelling scheme, or a single fishery or species, researchers took a geographical approach, which allowed them to collect information on several schemes. Four different schemes were discussed by the fishermen/interviewees.
The schemes range from local (e.g. the Cornwall Good Seafood Guide (CGSG) labelling system and the South West Handling Fishermen’s Association (SWHFA) tagging system) to global (e.g. the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabelling scheme and the Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard), and whilst they all have a focus on environmental sustainability, the criteria and assessment of the actual environmental impact vary for each.
When seafood producers were asked about the benefits of the schemes, researchers found that the picture was far from straightforward. Some schemes were associated with increased demand, higher prices or improved market access, while others delivered little or no obvious financial benefit.
For example, fishers involved in the South West Handline Fishermen’s Association tagging system reported increased demand for tagged bass, with prices reportedly £5–£6 per kilogram higher than bass caught using other fishing gear.
But the benefits of certification were not universal.
While both the Hake Gill Net Fishery and the South West Handline Mackerel Fishery successfully gained MSC certification, the latter decided not to renew its certification when external funding supporting the initial certification ended. Without this funding, the cost of renewal outweighed the benefits for the fishery. On the other hand, the Hake Gill Net Fishery experienced quayside price increase following gaining certification.
Together, these examples highlight the study’s central finding: there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to seafood ecolabelling. For a scheme to succeed, its benefits need to outweigh the financial and administrative burden for producers, while also fitting the way a fishery operates and the needs of its buyers. This understanding can help producers and fisheries managers identify the schemes best suited to their needs, while also highlighting opportunities to improve existing schemes – ultimately helping to support the sustainable provision of seafood.
Researchers, however, did identify four factors that can help understand the success – or lack of – a scheme for a given fishery:
- Fitting the fishing practice
- Setting out formal processes
- Fitting the needs
- Generating benefits
Dr Océane Marcone, Social Science Researcher at PML, and lead author of the study, commented:
“Ecolabels are supposed to help make seafood production more sustainable. But they can only do that if fishers actually have a reason and ability to participate.”
“If certification is too expensive, too complicated, poorly suited to the fishery, or irrelevant to the buyers, producers may simply opt out. And if producers opt out, the mechanism that is supposed to encourage more sustainable fishing doesn’t work.”
“Through our case study, we argue that well-designed, well-suited ecolabels can absolutely contribute to sustainable seafood production, but that designing more and more labels isn’t necessarily the answer. Instead, existing schemes could be improved to better fit fishers, producers and supply chains – and ultimately support real sustainability for our fish stocks.”
“There are many factors at play, but essentially, successful schemes need to fit the fishery, its governance, its buyers and lead to benefits (monetary or non-monetary) for the producers.”
“This research is relevant beyond our case study in Cornwall. I hope our research can help fishers and fisheries managers identify the approaches that are best suited to their needs, while also helping existing schemes become more accessible and effective. Ultimately, we want ecolabelling to be a useful tool that supports both fishing communities and the long-term sustainability of our marine resources.”
Further information:
Ethical approval for this research was granted by the University of Plymouth Research Ethics and Integrity Committee – Faculty of Health & Human Sciences and Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (reference 18/19-1062).
This work was funded through the South-West Partnership for Environment and Economic Prosperity programme (NERC/UKRI grant, grant number NE/P011217/1).
