coast FOOD
New sustainability ratings show affordable, ocean-friendly seafood options are possible – handy at a time when household budgets are under strain
The Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide is the charity’s flagship tool for identifying sustainable seafood. The Guide and its app use a simple traffic light system to help consumers and businesses make sustainable seafood choices depending on where and how a species is caught or farmed.
Covering seafood sold or produced in the UK, green are the ‘Best Choice’ most sustainable options, amber is an okay choice but improvements are needed, and red indicates unsustainable ‘Fish to Avoid’.
Updated biannually, ratings are carefully researched and rigorously reviewed by scientists at the charity using a transparent process and publicly available methodology.
KEY FINDINGS FROM THE LATEST GUIDE ARE:
· Seafood is one of the first things to drop off consumers’ shopping lists when purse strings tighten, but that needn’t be the case. Affordable and sustainable seafood options are possible, especially when it comes to tinned or frozen seafood.
· Tinned fish goes a long way, providing a budget-friendly meal with plenty of flavour.
· The Good Fish Guide’s new tool, the Seafood Checker, helps shoppers find a sustainability rating, asking questions such as ‘where was your fish caught or farmed’ and ‘does your fish have an ecolabel’. You can try the new tool here: goodfishguide.org/seafood-checker
The Marine Conservation Society is calling on the governments of the UK to deliver better fisheries management, including improving data collection, so we all have a clearer picture of the state of our seas, and the sustainability of seafood.
Jack Clarke, Sustainable Seafood Advocate at the Marine
