Although we do not currently have the resources to coordinate this campaign for the city, we believe that Sustainable Fish City is an important initiative.
People are eating more fish than they used to, and a lot of it is being caught by destructive methods. The world is now seriously at risk of losing some species from our seas forever.
The Sustainable Fish Cities campaign asks cities to buy, eat and promote only sustainable fish.
Achieving Sustainable Fish City Status – how this works:
Businesses that serve fish are asked to sign a pledge to only serve sustainable fish. To achieve Sustainable Fish Cities status, a city must have achieved a target number of signed pledges in 5 key areas:
- Schools and council catering
- Hospitals
- Higher education
- Work settings
- Restaurants, iconic buildings and innovative campaigns
Who has signed up already?
For the most up-to-date list of pledges, see the national Sustainable Fish Cities website.
What can you do as a business that serves fish?
You can
- Sign the pledge online
- Source from local wholesale fish suppliers:
- Brighton & Newhaven Fish Sales (Hove Lagoon)
- Monteum (Shoreham-by-sea)
- The Fresh Fish Shop (Haywards Heath)
- Network Seafoods (Newhaven)
- Use the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Good Fish Guide to choose fish from responsibly managed sources that are caught or farmed in ways that minimise damage to the marine environment.
- Mix up your menu and try these top ten swaps.
- Serve sustainably managed fish – such as those certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. You can also gain MSC Chain of Custody certification to enable you to promote sustainable seafood to your customers.
- If you’re thinking of serving MSC fish, they’ve produced a web resource on the benefits of MSC certification for the catering industry.
- If you are committed to keeping a certain species on the menu, look for choices with better MCS ratings. There are some species which score very differently depending on their origin and how they are caught or produced.
- If your business uses a contracted caterer, find out which ones have already signed the Sustainable Fish Cities pledge nationally.
- If your business sources fish through M&J Seafood, then you can ask for their Safely Sourced Seafood List which has over 300 fresh, frozen and chilled responsibly sourced fish and/or seafood lines.