Governing sociocultural sustainability through standards: Evidence from aquaculture eco-certification schemes

Abstract

Nonstate certifying authorities have long used standards as a governance instrument to improve sociocultural sustainability in the aquaculture sector. However, studies document that sociocultural sustainability has been marginalized in aquaculture certification standards. Against this background, I explore the purview of the sociocultural “principles” embodied in standards to improve sociocultural sustainability in aquaculture development. Although the burgeoning scholarship underscores the coverage of sociocultural indicators in aquaculture certification standards, there is limited research on what principles are included in standards to advance sociocultural sustainability in aquaculture. To address this question, I draw on one of the four dimensions of the “full-spectrum” sustainability framework (FSF), namely, the sociocultural dimension, to compare the extent to which such principles correspond to the FSF. Using the interpretive method, I examine six standards of five transnational aquaculture eco-certification schemes. I argue that standards overwhelmingly underscore issues concerning health and well-being, whereas the emphasis on improving producers' ethical practices and resolving burning issues that profoundly affect indigenous peoples and local communities is comparatively fragile. I further contend that the Naturland, Global Good Agricultural Practice, and Friend of the Sea's (FOS) aquaculture certification standards are weaker than the Aquaculture Stewardship Council and Global Aquaculture Alliance standards, and the FOS standard is the weakest in terms of addressing sociocultural sustainability. I conclude that the exclusion of, and negligible attention to, crucial sociocultural issues can potentially undermine the vision of standards to ensure and govern sociocultural sustainability in aquaculture, thereby providing a rationale for improving certification standards.