Summary
This paper presents data associated with the benchmarking of the Fair Trade USA (FT USA) Capture Fisheries Standard and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard against the Food and Agriculture Organization's Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradiation (FAO Voluntary Guidelines). Benchmarking was used to determine the extent to which these standards, which promote sustainability in different ways, align with the FAO Voluntary Guidelines. The data represent a comprehensive analysis of these standards and are useful for beginning to understand the appropriateness of these standards for small-scale fisheries in developing regions of the world. For further interpretation and discussion please see "A tale of two standards: A case study of the Fair Trade USA certified Maluku handline yellowfin tuna (Thunnus al bacares) fishery".