Blue Ocean Institute

Blue Ocean Institute (BOI) is located on the East Coast of the United States, but has a global reach. Their name is well known in conservation circles. BOI's From Sea to Table program uses a quantitative color-coded ranking system with green for most sustainable and red for least sustainable, with varying shades in between. Blue Ocean’s seafood guide also has indicators for high levels of mercury or PCBs, which can pose a health risk to adults and children.  

Blue Ocean Institute’s rankings are supported by publicly available reports that are generated by BOI using methodologies created by BOI. In the absence of a BOI ranking, BOI defaults to rankings that are generated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program, these rankings are supported by reports that are publicly available through the Seafood Watch Program. 

BOI has also created a training program for chefs with Chefs Collaborative to guide chefs and restaurateurs toward practicing seafood sustainability.

BOI is well-known among consumers and environmentalists alike. Their name is synonymous with research, public outreach, and inspiration to help people take action on behalf of the sea.

GREEN		Species is relatively abundant, and fishing/farming methods cause little damage to habitat and other wildlife.
LIGHT GREEN		Species has medium to high levels of abundance, or fishing/farming methods cause some damage to the environment.
YELLOW		Some problems exist with this species' status or catch/farming methods, or information is insufficient for evaluating.

To learn more about Blue Ocean Institute please visit www.blueocean.org.

FishWise

FishWise is a non-profit organization designed to improve the sustainability and financial performance of seafood retailers, distributors and producers. Uniquely positioned between the seafood industry and marine conservation organizations, FishWise offers a range of services that create trust between seafood vendors and their customers, enabling businesses to sell more sustainable seafood, more profitably.  We help source, assess, provide point-of-sale information, and staff training about the vast majority of seafood products available in the market. Combined with other tools tailored to individual partner needs, FishWise helps businesses build customer loyalty and increase sales.

For its business partners, FishWise has the ability to evaluate seafood against the most credible certification and rankings criteria available from governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations and industry sources. We develop and use peer-reviewed, published research, third-party ecolabels (e.g. MSC, Aquaculture Dialogues, GlobalGAP), color rankings (e.g. Seafood Watch, SeaChoice, Blue Ocean Institute) and fishery improvement projects.    

FishWise sustainability rankings to be found in FishChoice use the Seafood Watch criteria:

GREEN		Theses species are abundant, well managed, and caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways.
YELLOW		These species come from fisheries or farms with good qualities but they may still have some environmental concerns.

To learn more about FishWise including how to become a FishWise member please visit www.fishwise.org.

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) operates a global seafood certification program under which wild capture fisheries can become certified as sustainable, environmentally responsible and well managed, based on a rigorous scientific methodology and independent assessment.  Seafood products from certified fisheries that have passed assessment to the MSC standard may carry an MSC eco-label, the most recognized and credible seafood eco-label in the world. MSC also operates a Chain of Custody traceability program to ensure that seafood bearing the MSC label is monitored all the way through the supply chain to the end consumer. 

To use the Marine Stewardship Council's eco-label, a seafood buyer will need to contact MSC to become certified in their Chain of Custody. All fishery and supply chain certification assessments are conducted by an independent third party. The MSC can provide further information and a list of companies accredited to certify to their standard.

If you are already MSC Chain of Custody-certified, FishChoice.com will help you find more products that bear the MSC certification.

To learn more about the Marine Stewardship Council please visit www.msc.org.

New England Aquarium

Located in Boston, MA the New England Aquarium is a world-renowned ocean research, conservation and education organization that is an active member of the sustainable seafood movement. The New England Aquarium strives to improve the environmental responsibility of seafood supply chains by rewarding progressive action on the part of business and industry and raising awareness of environmentally responsible seafood among consumers.        

As part of these efforts, the New England Aquarium provides sustainable seafood advice to some of the world’s largest seafood retailers, restaurant chains and suppliers. The New England Aquarium advises its partner companies on approaches to ensure greater environmental accountability throughout their supply chains. Utilizing in-house technical expertise and tools, services offered include, but are not limited to: seafood sourcing evaluations and recommendations, seafood policy development, employee trainings, and development of collateral and marketing materials.

The New England Aquarium ranks seafood species for FishChoice.com using its own methodology and scientific expertise, and defers to approved selections from The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Rankings list in the absence of a New England Aquarium ranking.

New England Aquarium indicates preferred Ocean-Friendly choices with the term 'A-list'. If you cannot find what you're looking for on the A-list, acceptable alternatives are indicated with the term 'B-list'.

A-LIST		Preferred Ocean-Friendly choice
B-LIST		Acceptable alternative

To learn more about the New England Aquarium please visit their website.

SeaChoice

Sustainable Seafood Canada is a coalition of leading Canadian conservation organizations working together via the SeaChoice program to raise public awareness of the threats to oceans and the solutions that sustainable fisheries offer. Sustainable Seafood Canada brings together broad national expertise from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – BC Chapter, David Suzuki Foundation, Ecology Action Centre, Living Oceans Society, and the Sierra Club BC.

Member organizations have a demonstrated history of engagement in markets-based campaigning and policy reform for fisheries.

A seafood buyer would want to choose SeaChoice as their ranking system if they were based in Canada, and wanted to use a ranking system that is backed by major Canadian environmental organizations.

Sea Choice uses the rankings of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program.  Sea Choice science staff also writes reports using Seafood Watch methodologies for fisheries relevant to Canadian buyers.  These reports are reviewed by Seafood Watch and result in a new ranking. All reports are made public by Seafood Watch and/or Sea Choice

GREEN		Best Choice: This species is currently fished/harvested sustainably and represents a best choice. Enjoy, while supporting responsible fishing and coastal livelihoods.
YELLOW		Some Concerns: Seafood that should be consumed infrequently, or when a green choice is not available. There are conservation concerns with the current populations or practices in this fishery.

To learn more about SeaChoice please visit www.seachoice.org.