The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an independent, global, non-profit organisation with offices in London, UK, Seattle, USA and Sydney, Australia. In a bid to reverse the continued decline in the world's fisheries, the MSC is seeking to harness consumer purchasing power to generate change and promote environmentally responsible stewardship of the world's most important renewable food source.

The MSC has developed an environmental standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. It uses a product label to reward environmentally responsible fishery management and practices. Consumers, concerned about overfishing and its environmental and social consequences will increasingly be able to choose seafood products which have been independently assessed against the MSC Standard and labelled to prove it. This will assure them that the product has not contributed to the environmental problem of overfishing.

Though operating independently since 1999, the MSC was first established by Unilever, the world's largest buyer of seafood, and WWF, the international conservation organisation, in 1997. It is this exciting and unique green-business partnership that has been praised by world leaders.

As of September 2007 there are 857 MSC-labelled seafood products sold in 34 countries worldwide. Over 7% of the world's edible wild-capture fisheries are now engaged in the program, either as certified fisheries or in full assessment against the MSC standard for a sustainable fishery.
 
The MSC has a staff of 29 and is headed by the Chief Executive who reports to the Board of Trustees. The MSC programme works through a multi-stakeholder partnership approach, taking into account the views of all those seeking to secure a sustainable future.