Plymouth seeks to become world-leader for seafood sustainability
Plymouth’s restaurants are being given an opportunity to participate in a scheme that could bring a prestigious award to the city and set Plymouth apart as a world-leading city for seafood sustainability.
A partnership between National Marine Aquarium, Destination Plymouth and Plymouth University's Marine Institute has teamed up with Fish2Fork – the online sustainable dining guide – in an attempt to make Plymouth the first city anywhere in the world to be assessed for its new Fish2Fork Blue City award.
The Fish2Fork Blue City award will mean that at least half of the city’s restaurants have received a blue fish rating, reflecting that the restaurant is acting sustainably in choosing its seafood and engaging customers with information about the credentials of food served.
Almost 100 restaurants across the city have been approached by Fish2Fork and the National Marine Aquarium to find out details about the origins of their seafood. Chefs were encouraged to fill in a questionnaire online, and student volunteers from Plymouth University are assisting the process by seeking further information on the fish and shellfish served, how they are caught and where they are from. The next steps for the project – which is underway – is for the restaurants to be reviewed by Fish2Fork, so an official rating for each restaurant can be established.
Paul Cox, Director of Conservation and Communication at the National Marine Aquarium commented: “With so many restaurants serving seafood in the city, Plymouth is in an ideal position to become the first Fish2Fork Blue City, showcasing the excellent, sustainably-sourced seafood that our restaurants are able to serve.
“With Plymouth’s recent re-branding to Britain’s Ocean’s City, the Blue City initiative is part of an on-going drive to promote the city as a unique destination with a strong focus on its links with the ocean, and a growing reputation as a gourmet city with a focus on quality and sustainable seafood.
“We have had a fantastic response from some restaurants that have seen the benefits, not only in terms of sustaining fish stocks, but in terms of the potential for their own business to benefit from the scheme.
"As restaurant customers become engaged with the project and start checking out restaurant ratings on the Fish2Fork website, we can see restaurants starting to compete for the higher ratings to attract customers."
“We have all heard the news reports that many of our well-known fish species aren’t always being fished sustainably,” said Professor Martin Attrill, Director of Plymouth University’s Marine Institute, "so it’s important that we take this opportunity, as a city, to demonstrate the importance of limiting the exploitation of un-sustainable fish stocks and focusing on reconnecting consumers with the source of their seafood.
"We all want a future where both fish stocks and our local fishing industry are thriving.”
Amanda Lumley, Chief Executive of Destination Plymouth added: “This initiative is about the hospitality and leisure businesses in the city working together to achieve the accreditation.
"More and more visitors are making decisions based on where and how their food is produced and Plymouth has a real opportunity to lead nationally on this. We have already made great progress but need even more of the city’s restaurants on board to make this happen.
"I’d urge any restaurateur who would like to get involved to contact Fish2Fork through their website.
"We also want to encourage everyone in the city to get involved by asking restaurants about their involvement and encouraging them to source their fish sustainably.”
