Latest Advice on Fish Sustainability Published
MCS calls on retailers to improve labelling to
enable real consumer choice
The
Marine Conservation Society (MCS) today publishes its latest advice to
consumers on fish sustainability, including those it recommends to "eat", and
those to "avoid". The website fishonline (www.fishonline.org)
gives advice for almost every variety of fish to be found on sale in the UK. A handy
"MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide" is also available. Using this information,
consumers can make a sustainable seafood choice at fish counters, restaurants
and other outlets. However, MCS is concerned that inadequate labelling on many
seafood products will still lead to some confusion amongst shoppers.
Sustainability
of food supply is of huge public concern presently, but labelling of products
at many retail points is simply not sufficient to give consumers an informed
choice for fish and other seafood. While present EU legislation demands that
retailers display various details on seafood being sold, MCS believes that
labelling of processed products and at fresh fish counters, takeaways and
restaurants remains poor and, in many cases, non-existent.
Marine Conservation Society Fisheries Officer Sam Wilding
says, "Labelling of seafood sold in the UK is lacking detail, and as such is not fit for purpose.
This is leading to confusion amongst consumers who really want to make the best
sustainable seafood choice. It is vital that consumers are given better
information to act upon if we are to reduce the tragedy of overfishing. Whilst
we wait for fish sellers to help consumers make the right sustainable seafood
choice, we advise that if consumers are not confident that their fish is
sustainably sourced they should question their retailer closely for more
information".
Cod is an example of why such labelling is important. With
cod stocks at various levels of abundance in different regions, there are better
and worse choices to make in terms of buying sustainably. Cod from the Northeast Arctic would be a better choice than cod from the North Sea for example. However without that information available on labels
consumers are left confused and frustrated.
MCS recommends that when faced with this situation, consumers should try
different species that are considered a good sustainable choice. Great sustainable alternatives to cod include
pouting (or bib), red or grey gurnard, and pollack.
Tom Aikens, Michelin starred chef and owner of Tom's
Kitchen and Tom's Place said, "We have been sourcing sustainable seafood for
three years and aim to offer our customers alternatives to overfished
species. We now serve gurnard and
pollack as alternatives to cod and they have proved popular with our
patrons. Both these species are
excellent alternatives to cod and can be prepared in the same way."
The Fishonline website provides
information on over 150 species of seafood available to the UK consumer. Seafood given a rating
of 1 is considered the "most sustainable" by MCS, as they are sourced
from well managed, sustainable stocks using environment-friendly fishing or
farming methods. Seafood given a rating of 5 is deemed
"unsustainable", from poorly managed or depleted stocks, or using
methods of fishing or farming that harm the marine ecosystem.
The Fishonline website - www.fishonline.org - provides a
simple and advanced search facility, and information on the state of different
stocks, impacts of the fishery on non-target species and the marine
environment, the impacts of various fishing methods and lists of fish to eat
and to avoid plus much more.
The lists of "fish to eat" and "fish to avoid" are
summarised in the MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide, which can be used as a quick
reference whilst doing the weekly shop, at the take-away, or dining out. The
Pocket Good Fish Guide is available FREE from MCS (upon receipt of SAE) - call
01989 566017, e-mail [email protected] or
download a copy from the www.fishonline.org website.
For further
information contact:
Sam Wilding, MCS Fisheries
Officer - Tel: 01989 561584
Melissa Pritchard, MCS Fisheries
Policy Officer - Tel: 01989 561598
Dawn Purchase, MCS Fisheries
Programme Coordinator and Mariculture Officer - Tel: 0131 226 3113
Simon Brockington, MCS Head of
Conservation - Tel:
07748 132445
Richard Harrington, MCS Communications
Manager - Tel: 01989 561585 / 07793 118384
General Marine Conservation Society switchboard - Tel: 01989 566017
The Marine Conservation
Society (MCS) is the UK charity
dedicated to the protection of our seas, shores and wildlife. MCS campaigns for clean seas and beaches,
sustainable fisheries, protection of marine life and their habitats, and the
sensitive use of our marine resources for future generations. Through
education, community involvement and collaboration, MCS raises awareness of the
many threats that face our seas and promotes individual, industry and
government action to protect the marine environment. MCS provides information
and guidance on many aspects of marine conservation and produces the annual Good Beach Guide (www.goodbeachguide.co.uk), the Good Fish Guide and www.fishonline.org on
sustainable seafood, as well as promoting public participation in volunteer
projects and surveys such as Beachwatch,
Adopt-a-Beach and Basking Shark Watch.www.mcsuk.org The
Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is celebrating 25 years of protecting our
precious seas, shores and wildlife this year. MCS will be running a series of
events and initiatives in 2008 to highlight the need for better protection of
our seas, celebrate the wildlife they support and give opportunities for people
to take an active part - on land or at sea.
MCS
Fish to Eat and Fish to Avoid lists are generated by assessing the relative health of
each fish stock, and the sustainability of the various fishing methods used.
MCS has given over 150 fish a rating from 1 to 5 that allows the user to
identify the status and sustainability of each fish at a glance. A rating of 5
(Fish to Avoid) is given to those fish that MCS recommends be avoided because
they are overfished; vulnerable to exploitation; poorly managed; and whose
method of harvesting causes bycatch (capture of dolphins, sharks, seabirds and
non-target fish) and/or damage to the seabed. A rating of 1 and 2 (Fish to Eat)
is awarded to the most sustainably harvested seafood including fish from
certified fisheries. Ratings 3 and 4 indicate increasing levels of concern
regarding the status of the fish stock, or the environmental impact of the
fishing method used to catch them. A Pocket Good Fish Guide featuring a summary
of the Fish to Eat and Fish to Avoid lists is available from MCS at 01989
566017 / [email protected] on receipt of a
SAE.
www.fishonline.org is
the comprehensive and highly acclaimed MCS website on sustainable seafood. The website has a
Simple and an Advanced search function, depending on the detail of information required by the consumer about each fish. As
well as entries for over 150 different species and stocks, the site includes
information on status of fish stocks, impacts of fishing and labelling schemes.
There is also a glossary with definitions for terminology that users may not be
familiar with and a guide to the different fishing methods used and their
impacts. Maps of the world's fishing areas are also included. New features
added in 2006 include a guide to when fish breed; a comparison of the effects
of different fishing gears; a guide to where to buy fish from the Fish to Eat
list; and additional information on farmed fish and other species. A new
addition to the website this year is the opportunity for consumers to provide
feedback on the labeling of seafood. By
providing this information consumers will be entered into a free prize
draw. The Fishonline website was
originally designed by Juniperblue, with the financial support of Marks &
Spencers plc, and first launched in August 2004.
EU Legislation on
labelling - Current EU legislation (EC 104/2000) dictates that retailers must
display the common name of the species being sold, its method of production
(farmed or wild-caught) and the area of production (FAO fisheries area, e.g.
North East Atlantic, for wild caught fish and country of final development for
farmed fish).
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