The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has tightened up its fisheries standard by establishing an independent college to ensure independence and credibility of its peer reviewers.
The College will give greater confidence to the MSC, fisheries and certifiers of the competence, independence and credibility of all peer reviewers involved in assessments to the MSC Fisheries Standard.
“The Peer Review College has been established to give additional confidence that reviewers are independent and well qualified,” said Dan Hoggarth, the MSC’s Head of Standards Governance.
“It also provides a centralised means of tracking and improving the performance of peer reviewers and ensuring that the rigour of our standard and assessment process is upheld.”
The college will be made up of around 50 independent experts in marine science and fisheries management.
It will be administered by the MSC under the direction of a Peer Review Oversight Committee, composed of two representatives of the MSC’s Stakeholder Advisory Council and one representative of the Technical Advisory Board.
Members of the Peer Review College have at least five years’ experience in a relevant area of fisheries or marine conservation management or research, as well as relevant academic qualifications.
Peer reviewers are selected to review fishery assessment documents based on their knowledge of the type, location and issues associated with the fishery.
The Peer Review Colleague was first established as a pilot in 2016, following the recommendations of an independent review of the MSC’s processes in 2011 and consultations with stakeholders in 2013.
