We have curated a list of all relevant resources produced by SeaChoice and our partner organizations. We have included key resources produced by the Canadian government and other external groups, to provide a jump-off point to understand the issues around sustainable seafood in Canada.

Fisheries

SeaChoice and Partner Resources

How We Fish Matters (2008) — Ecology Action Centre, Living Oceans Society, and Marine Conservation Biology Institute. A comprehensive analysis of the severity of habitat impacts and discarded bycatch resulting from major commercial fishing gears used in Canada.
Missing the Safety Net: Lack of Protection for Canada’s Marine Fish Species-at-Risk Report & Infographic — Ecology Action Centre

Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Other Government Resources:

A Fishery Decision-making Framework Incorporating the Precautionary Approach (2009) — DFO
Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Publication Search — DFO
Canada’s Fisheries Act
Data on Canada’s Marine Commercial Fisheries — DFO
Management Measures, Programs and Initiatives — DFO
Policy for Managing Bycatch and Guidance Document — DFO
Policy for Managing the Impact of Fishing on Sensitive Benthic Areas (2009) — DFO
Status of major Fish Stocks (2015) — DFO
Sustaining Canada’s Major Fish Stocks (2016) — Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Other Resources

A review of best practice mitigation measures to address the problem of bycatch in commercial fisheries (2014) — A review carried out for the Marine Stewardship Council
Bycatch.org — Find references and summaries from bycatch reduction studies, and descriptions of bycatch mitigation techniques.
Fisheries — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Fisheries Improvement Projects — On the Conservation Alliance for Sustainable Seafood website, including their Guidelines for Supporting Fishery Improvement Projects
FisheryProgress.org — The one-stop shop for reliable information about FIP progress
How We Fish Matters (2008) — Ecology Action Centre, Living Oceans Society, and Marine Conservation Biology Institute. A comprehensive analysis of the severity of habitat impacts and discarded bycatch resulting from major commercial fishing gears used in Canada.

Aquaculture

SeaChoice and Partner Resources

Salmon Farming — Information from Living Oceans Society on salmon aquaculture in BC
Map of BC Salmon Farm Licenses and Tenures — Living Oceans Society
Map of Coastlines of the World Affected by Salmon Farms — Living Oceans Society
Lousy Choices: Drug Resistant Sea Lice in Clayoquot Sound (2018) — Living Oceans Society and Raincoast Research

Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Other Government Resources

Aquaculture — Ministry of Agriculture, Province of BC
Aquaculture — Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agrifoods, Province of N.L
Aquaculture — Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Province of N.B.
Aquaculture — Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Province of N.S.
Aquaculture — Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Province of P.E.
Aquaculture Services and Information — DFO
Environmental Management Reports for Aquaculture in British Columbia — DFO
Statistics Related to Aquaculture in Canada — DFO
Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River — Final Report

Other Resources

Aquaculture — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Aquaculture Innovation Workshop — Presentations and videos from experts in the recirculating aquaculture systems field.
Strategic Salmon Health Initiative — A partnership between Pacific Salmon Foundation, DFO and Genome BC to identify and clarify the pathogens present in salmon in BC, which are associated with disease and their exchange risk between wild and farmed.
Speaking for the Salmon Recommendations — Based on a think tank of scientists who attended The Protection of Pacific Wild Salmon: Understanding the potential risk factors and seeking solutions.
The Dark Side of Aquaculture – Report by BLOOM on the world of ‘reduction fisheries’, i.e. the transformation of wild fish into fishmeal and fish oil to supply the aquaculture sector, as well as pig and poultry farming.

Markets

SeaChoice and Partner Resources

Although SeaChoice no longer provides seafood sustainability ratings or pocket guides, we have some advice for consumers on choosing sustainable seafood – read more here.
Taking Stock: Sustainable Seafood in Canadian Markets (2016) — SeaChoice, Full report and key findings. A comprehensive assessment of imported and domestic fishery and aquaculture products in Canadian markets.
Creating a Value Chain to Support Atlantic Canada’s Sustainable Fisheries (2014) — Ecology Action Centre

Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Other Government Resources

Data on imports and exports of fisheries products for Canada and the world — DFO
Seafood Value Chain Roundtable (SVCRT) — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Brings together leaders from across the seafood industry with federal and provincial government representatives.

Other Resources

FishChoice.com, My FishChoice and FisheryProgress.org
Ocean Wise Seafood Program — seafood ratings
Seafood Watch — seafood ratings
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP)— Ocean Disclosure Project
The Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions — Working with businesses to solve sustainable seafood’s biggest challenges.
The Common Vision for Sustainable Seafood — The Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions. Helps businesses representing 80 per cent of the North American grocery and institutional food service markets deliver on sustainability commitments.

Eco-labels

SeaChoice and Partner Resources

SeaChoice assessed the three major aquaculture certifications (ASC, BAP and GLOBALG.A.P.) to determine the extent to which each scheme is a product of and a platform for civil society stakeholder engagement – report webpage and full report.
SeaChoice investigative report into environmental claims on seafood products in Canada – full report and executive summary
SeaChoice webinar on seafood labelling and traceability
Taking Stock: Sustainable Seafood in Canadian Markets (2016) — SeaChoice, Full report and key findings. A comprehensive assessment of imported and domestic fishery and aquaculture products in Canadian markets. Includes a look at eco-labels and NGO-retail partnerships.
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Certification in Canada: Technical Report (2017) — SeaChoice. Technical analysis of ASC certifications in Canada.
A Decade of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification in Canada: Technical Report (2017) — SeaChoice. Technical analysis of MSC certifications in Canada.
What’s Behind the Label? (2017) — SeaChoice. The first review of all Canadian MSC and ASC certifications, with the goal of examining the application of the Standards and the subsequent impact of certifications on environmental improvements in Canadian fishery and aquaculture practices.
Making Stewardship Count (2018) – Global campaign calling for urgent and swift changes to the MSC certification standard in order to uphold the scientific rigour, transparency, and original vision of the seafood label, supported by SeaChoice and its partner organisations.
Global Review of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s Salmon Standard (2018) – the first global review to examine how well salmon farms performed to meet the ASC’s Salmon Standard, how sustainable they really are and the effects of amendments to the Standard. It is supported by a Technical Report, which also includes ASC’s response to our findings. You can further download regional summaries for Australia, Canada, Chile, Faroes, Ireland, Norway and the UK (Scotland).

Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and Other Government Resources

Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers – Competition Bureau Canada (Section 4.6 provides guidance on claims of “sustainability”)

Other Resources

Traceability and Labelling

SeaChoice and Partner Resources

SeaChoice submitted detailed comments and recommendations to the federal government’s consultation on its boat-to-plate traceability program in December 2021 – see our full submission here.
In November 2021, SeaChoice conducted a survey of over 1,000 Canadians on their perceptions of seafood traceability and labelling. The results demonstrated very strong support for improvements to Canada’s traceability and labelling requirements – see the full results here.
SeaChoice analyzed Canada’s seafood product labelling guidance, identified the most problematic and misleading common names in the market and provided recommendations for better name clarity – report webpage, full report and executive summary.
SeaChoice report on environmental claims on seafood labels in Canada – full report and executive summary
SeaChoice webinar on labelling and traceability
Canadians Eating in the Dark: A report Card of International Seafood Labelling Requirements (2016) — SeaChoice, Full report and key findings in English and French.
Getting Up to Speed: Potential Application for Video Monitoring in Atlantic Canada (2016) — EAC
labelmyseafood.ca — SeaChoice website highlighting the inadequacy of Canadians seafood regulations, why it matters, and SeaChoice’s recommended labelling action plan for Canada.
LifeScanner Portal — Results of SeaChoice-led citizen science research into on-package seafood labels across Canadian retailers.
SeaChoice recommendations to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Food Labelling Modernization Initiative.
SeaChoice comments to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, focusing in on traceability requirements for the seafood supply chain.
SeaChoice’s Voluntary Labelling Guidelines for Canadian retailers.
SeaChoice’s #JoinTheShift retailer toolkit, supporting retailers to choose sustainable, traceable seafood and label it well.