ABSTRACT
Seafood is a highly contested food sector, with ongoing societal and scientific debates over the sustainability of its production. The fisheries and aquaculture sectors that produce seafood have a range of environmental and social impacts. Concerns over these impacts have been the focus of nearly three decades of debate and action by non-governmental organisations, governments and the private sector. Today around 50 sustainable seafood initiatives, including codes, standards and principles, make up what is commonly called the ‘sustainable seafood movement’. This chapter outlines the challenges faced by this movement in setting and implementing technical measures for sustainability in the seafood industry. It sets out a case for a social scientific contribution to understand and overcome the ongoing limitations faced by the seafood movement in achieving its goals.
