The Impact of the MSC certification on the Japanese fisheries: Case of the Kyoto Flathead Flounder Danish Seine Fishery

This paper investigates the impact of a Japanese fishery’s MSC certification on the related seafood markets. In September 2008, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified the Kyoto flat-head flounder Danish seine fishery (KDSFF) as the first sustainable fishery in Asia. Assuming the MSC certification has an impact on the fishery, the overall goal is to examine the benefit of the KDSFF from the MSC certification. The benefit is examined by a cointegration and structural break test whether the KDSFF experiences market segregation by the certification. The monthly ex-vessel price is analyzed compared with the prices of the adjacent prefectures: Fukui and Hyogo prefectures. The structural break test showed that the significant impact on the structure of the flathead flounder fisheries while there is no increase in price. In conclusion, the KDSFF benefits from the MSC certification in that the market used to be easily influenced by the other larger markets, but became less influenced by them after the introduction of the MSC certification.