Seafood Ethics

Seafood ethics is a nascent transdisciplinary field at the science-society-policy nexus that aims to enhance marine resource sustainability by embedding considerations of values and ethics into marine management frameworks.... [ view full abstract ]

Seafood ethics is a nascent transdisciplinary field at the science-society-policy nexus that aims to enhance marine resource sustainability by embedding considerations of values and ethics into marine management frameworks. Values govern all human activities and their explication in management can aid decision-makers in resolving resource conflicts and policy trade-offs. Ethics, the moral principles that govern individual and group behaviours, can affect responses to regulatory measures and influence resource sustainability. Seafood ethics thus encompasses the descriptive and normative study of the values and pro-social attitudes, value-based trade-offs, and ethical dilemmas of diverse stakeholders and citizens along seafood value chains, from producers to consumers. Increasingly, ethical consumerism or ‘dollar voting’ is demanding criteria-based ethical standards to foster environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the global seafood industry. In response, boundary organizations have emerged, such as Seafish, whose mission is “to support a profitable, sustainable and socially responsible future for the seafood industry.” It is uncertain, however, whether companies with commitments to emerging seafood ethics are leading to more sustainable and just value chains or if they are simply enhancing their market competitiveness and purchasing moral satisfaction for their consumers. In this talk, I will present emerging trends in seafood ethics, potential indicators for the ethical assessment of seafood value chains, and illustrative examples from fisheries and aquaculture of new regulatory and market-based approaches to ethical seafood. I conclude by arguing that moving beyond sustainable management to ethical governance can foster both sustainable and equitable marine resource allocation, use, and conservation.