Criticism is mounting over the Seafood Watch ratings system. Is it fair?

Seafood Watch, a program of the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium, aims to provide US consumers and businesses with "ocean-friendly seafood choices."

But some leaders in the seafood and NGO world think ratings systems such as Seafood Watch need to be more transparent in how they arrive at conclusions that have the potential to remove products from US restaurant menus and stores shelves.

"More transparency and clarity on rating changes -- up or down -- is a major challenge and a necessary one," one seafood industry executive who used to work at a similar NGO and declined to be named, told IntraFish of Seafood Watch.