Who Should Certify the Sustainability of Our Fisheries? A Property Rights Perspective on Ecolabelling

Ecolabelling as a tool toensure sustainability inthe seafood value chain is gaining popularity in recent times. As a marketled intervention, ecolabelenabled fishery certification rides on the willingness of the ecologically concerned seafood consumer to pay a premium price for the fish harvested from a sustainable fisheryon the one hand, and the sensitivity ofthe multinational food chain fraternity to the reputationalrisks associated with the food they deal with, on the other. The market opportunity arising from this scenario iseffectively harnessed bythird-party certification agencies that assessthe sustainability of a fishery and certifies it for a fee. However, analysing the existing scenario through the lens of the political economy behind property rights, this article argues that the entry of non-state entities in the ecolabelling businessis not without problems which the state should beconcerned about.