[3] A study commissioned and funded by MSC[4]: 746 found that MSC-certified fisheries show improvements that deliver benefits to the marine environment.
[2] The MSC environmental standard for sustainable fishing was developed over two years through a consultative process involving more than 300 expert organizations and individuals around the world.
[14] As of March 2019[update], the use of DNA barcoding by the MSC has reduced species mislabelling (sometimes done fraudulently) to less than 1% among covered products, compared to the sector average of roughly 30%.
The MSC Board recognises it as generally good practice to hold reserves as a protection against any financial difficulties in the future.
A reserves target of 6 to 9 months’ cover is considered to be necessary, at least as an aspiration, given the MSC's absence of a subscribing membership and uncertainty, as a market-based program, of its various income streams.
[19] Jared Diamond's 2005 book Collapse discussed MSC and the similar Forest Stewardship Council as good examples of collaboration among environmentalists and businesses for a sustainable economy.
[20] Andrew Balmford's book Wild Hope[21] devotes a chapter to the MSC as a successful strategy for achieving conservation goals through a collaborative, market-based solution.
Critics claim that the MSC has certified fisheries that are harming the environment and those with a high level of bycatch, the killing of non-target species such as dolphins and turtles.
[23] In addition, there is no guarantee that the seafood is ethical, as animal welfare is not considered and suffocation is still the standard slaughter method for fish,[24] who possess not only the ability to feel pain but emotions and sentience.
[29][31] However toothfish has been fished commercially for over 30 years and the fishery has been closely managed by Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources since 1982.
[10] The fishery was certified with adjustments to the scoring on the contested indicators and additional requirements for providing scientific data to aid research on toothfish stocks.
[44] However, in an independent study of seven different seafood ecolabelling and certification programs, commissioned by WWF International and carried out by Accenture Development Partnerships in 2009,[45] the MSC ranked highest across all 103 criteria.
[10] In December 2016 Private Eye reported that a leaked internal WWF document concluded that because the MSC receives royalties from licensing its ecolabel (providing 75% of the organisation's revenue) there is a conflict of interest and it has relaxed its sustainability requirements, enabling more products to carry its label, thereby increasing its own income.
[46][better source needed] In 2018 Open Seas and the National Trust for Scotland formally objected to MSC certified scallop dredging practices.
[47] The 2021 documentary Seaspiracy was critical of the Marine Stewardship Council, arguing it offers a false sense of assurance to consumers about the products possessing the MSC label.