Fish in the foreground
I don’t really understand the internet and pathologically resist all attempts by my husband to explain it, so a comment posted on my blog from someone at the Marine Stewardship Council freaked me out. To be honest, I have the wrong personality for a blogger - I care too much what people think; I worry about offending people; I entertain a head full of paranoid thoughts.
And all the message said was:-
“To find retailers near you selling sustainable seafood with the MSC eco-label visit http://eng.msc.org/”
I had actually visited the site before, but was overwhelmed by too much information (a pathetic admission, I know). Fish as an issue soon disappeared off my radar.
Don’t you find that when you read articles, you are initially moved by the stories and statistics behind the headlines, but when you are bombarded daily by equally worthy causes, not all can stay in the foreground?
Fish is back in my foreground. In the playground, too. This morning, another mum asked what I was doing today and was surprised to hear I was writing about fish. I happened to say that I had noticed from the MSC website that Youngs appear to have a much greater range of responsible fish (a dodgy definition but the image amuses me) than Birds Eye. I was amazed at her response - “Just you saying that makes me want to buy Youngs instead of Birds Eye.”
Scary. I could have said anything. Influence is a powerful thing.
Well, visit the website and see for yourselves.
Generally, it seems that Wild Alaskan salmon, Pacific cod and halibut, line caught herring and mackerel, hoki and South African hake are the safest bet, if you care about sustainable fish stocks and the fate of the bycatch. And obviously, bye bye Birds Eye; hello Youngs.
A bit more info:- after a bit of online research, it seems that Brakes have the largest range of MSC certified fish in the food service sector. Caterers are becoming increasingly aware of the pressure some fish stocks are under and are looking for sustainable alternatives for their menus. Brakes is involved in the ‘Fish and kids’ initiative across the education sector, introducing MSC certified fish fingers to many school dinners across the country. Visit the MSC Fish and kids website for some fun learning with your kids!
Well, what are you waiting for? Off you go!
Filed under: sustainability, shopping, environment on September 18th, 2007
Hi - sorry to have freaked you out and thanks for the great post on sourcing sustainable seafood and the MSC! Our website is information-heavy at the moment - we’ll be launching a new one by the end of this year which will make it easier to find sustainable MSC-labelled seafood and learn about the issues. The easiest way to spot seafood that’s sustainable when you’re shopping is just to look for our blue eco-label on packaging.