Certificate
MSC certification
Certifies a wild fishery and the chain that handles its catch. A logo on a PDF is neither.
MSC applies to wild-caught seafood and works in two parts: the fishery itself is assessed against the standard, and every business that takes ownership of the catch afterwards needs its own chain-of-custody certificate for the claim to survive to the buyer. The most common failure we see is not fraud. It is a genuine certified fishery whose catch has passed through one uncertified handler, at which point the product is exactly as sustainable as before and can no longer be sold as certified.
Issued by
Marine Stewardship Council, through accredited third-party auditors
What it covers
- The assessed wild fishery, by stock and gear type
- Chain of custody at every change of ownership
- The right to make the claim on the packaging
What it does not cover
- Farmed product — ASC is the aquaculture equivalent
- Other stocks or gear types not in the assessment
- Any statement about food safety or quality grade
How we verify it
We confirm the chain-of-custody certificate of the actual selling entity, not of the fishery it bought from, and we record the certificate number and expiry. Where the chain has a gap, the product is offered without the claim rather than with an asterisk.
Fish of Norway does not hold this certificate and does not claim to. We verify our suppliers’ certificates against the issuing register, and that is the claim on this page.
Our full verification standard