You might also note that because of this, many retailers are considering alternatives to buying wild alaskan salmon, thus signifying that industry self-certification is not an acceptable eco-label

I think we American consumers would be better off anyway to inform ourselves seperate from our lazy dependence on labels. Certifications can be just as greenwashed as anything else. MSC sadly still certifies fish farms and maybe even coral-killing netting. Fish is a hard one. I wonder if there's any way to know who are the smaller farmers. Also most people probably have no idea at all what they're getting at a restaurant. I ask for wild caught but that does not guarantee anything.

Emmi, actually, MSC does not certify any fish farms. They only certify wild-caught fish. And wild caught isn't always better than farmed.

Oh rats, I was thinking of Monterey Bay's SW program. My mistake, I always get them confused.

@FancyD, the farmed choice is never better than wild caught. These disgusting fish farms spread disease, threaten salmon populations and smaller fish are caught from the wild in order to feed the farmed fish. There is no evidence it protects wild populations, only endangers them.

@ Emmi, you're only thinking about a few species (namely salmon, as I gather from your comment). Trout farms in the US, for example can be from farms where the water is recirculated and cleaned, no antibiotics are used and feed is primarily grain-based. There are shrimp farms in the desert southwest that use naturally saline groundwater to grow shrimp with low energy and food inputs. Most mussels, clams and oysters are farmed.
That's not to say that all are great. Salmon farming, tuna "ranching", many shrimp farms and others have problems, but it certainly isn't as simple as wild=good, farmed=bad.
And anyone worth their salt and actually understands the seafood market and fisheries would never claim that farming fish protects wild populations. They're simply different methods of food production, each with their own problems and benefits specific to the fishery or farming method.

FancyD, I certainly agree that wild caught can be extremely damaging to the environment. However since fish farming puts MORE pressure on wild stocks of fish, and does nothing to relieve wild stocks, I would not support it. Grains grown for any factory farmed animal, including fish, requires deforestation and severe degradation of the soil. Water pollution (like phosphorylation) , flooding, clearing of valueable habitat and salt toxicity in the soil result from shrimp farming. Therefore I would say if I had to eat fish, I'd do my best to reduce my intake of it, and try to find small-scale fisheries that were looking into less harmful methods.

http://www.wri.org/publication/content/8383

Emmi, sounds like we're in the same boat--primarily vegetarian with thoughtfully selected meats are the best way to go. But just as you give a pass to some small scale capture fisheries, I would give the same pass to some aquaculture operations. However, the reality is that most people aren't willing to put all that time into sourcing their food, and small scale in fisheries does not equal sustainable by any means, again it depends on what they're fishing for and how they're fishing. for example: http://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/ngo_e/posp72_www_e.pdf

@USERNAME26 amen! Regardless at the rate we are going they will be on the endangered species act.

Flaxseed oil and Primrose oil combo a day help keep the fish in the Bay.

FancyD thanks for that link. They are right, small scale fishing cannot be, as an overgeneralization, called better. It's also inhumane no matter how its done; however there is a glimmer of hope for both of us: nutrition scientists are now finding that certain types of algae contain great amounts of absorbable Omega 3s (this is how the fish get it in the first place). Whether it's as absorbable as fish Omega 3s, I don't know. I have a wheat allergy which is why I had to at least part time go back to eating animal products. Anyway, I agree a reduction is the best policy. Maybe some day human populations will go down enough that we can go back to an artesinal (and hopefully sustainable!) lifestyle. :)