Controversial attempts to label the Antarctic toothfish a ‘sustainable fishery’ suffered a blow this week as a series of objections to this certification were upheld.

The independent adjudicator appointed by the under-fire Marine Stewardship Council (see below) has upheld several objections to the certification from conservation group the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC).

Moody Marine Ltd, the company assessing the toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) for sustainability, will now have to amend several of the scores in its assessment to take account of the ruling. These include highly favourable ratings given to the management of the fishery, evaluation of harvesting strategies and the degree to which stakeholders were consulted in the evaluation. Whether the revised scores will be high enough to declare the fishery sustainable remains to be seen.

This does not mean that the fishery will not be declared sustainable, but it does represent a small victory for those campaigning against the listing, despite the fact that many other objections raised to Moody’s assessment were rejected by the lawyer.

“In ruling against many of our substantive points, he concludes that Moody Marine can ignore all inputs from peer reviewers, independent scientists and NGOs, and even in the face of the lack of basic information on toothfish reproduction and sexual maturity approve this fishery as ‘sustainable’,” James Barnes, executive director of ASOC, told Nature in an email. “I find this level of deference to the certifying body to be pretty shocking”

Barnes adds that the ruling in favour on several points, “is an important precedent as it is the first time this has ever happened, although the decision overall – and the process – is badly flawed”.

The MSC process has come under intense scrutiny recently. In an opinion piece in Nature a number of scientists criticised the scientific basis of its decisions. Other researchers have questioned the listing (or potential listing) of not just the toothfish but also Antarctic krill (see: Ecologists fear Antarctic krill crisis).

Some though have leapt to the defence of the MSC (see Nature correspondence: ‘High bar for seafood’ and ‘A force for good’). And Moody Marine has also defended the MSC process (see: ‘Fair and impartial’).