Local sourcing, sustainable seafood and small businesses go hand in hand in East Sussex
27 April 2006
Feasting on fish without worrying about overfishing and food miles, plus supporting local businesses at the same time? Too good to be true? Not in East Sussex.
An event organised by sustainable development charity the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in Hastings today (27 April 2006) celebrates
- Small businesses supporting locally caught sustainable fish
- Lower fees to use the MSC’s eco-label for seafood
- The launch of MyMSC, the new plain English guide to sourcing and selling sustainable seafood
Hastings fishmonger Rock-a-Nore Fisheries and two restaurants, Pissarro’s in Hastings and The Place Camber Sands near Rye, are the first small and independent businesses in East Sussex to offer customers sustainable seafood from local Hastings fisheries. Seafood lovers can choose between Dover sole, mackerel and herring from the English Channel, all bearing the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) blue eco-label. The eco-label assures consumers that the fish comes from sustainably managed fisheries.
Chain of custody
Only businesses that have passed the MSC Chain of Custody standard are eligible to display the MSC eco-label on seafood. The standard ensures that the fish can be traced from the point of sale back to where it comes from and provides an important guarantee for consumers.
What the MSC says
Presenting the Chain of Custody certificates to the three businesses in Hastings, MSC’s Chief Executive Rupert Howes said: “MSC certification has often been perceived as a tool for big players to source sustainable seafood. With the introduction of significantly lower logo licensing fees and the launch of the MyMSC guide, the MSC programme is now just as accessible to smaller and medium sized businesses. We very much hope that many more local enterprises will now move forward to become MSC certified in the near future.”
Amy Williams, MSC’s Commercial Manager UK and author of MyMSC, adds: “We are very excited about having some smaller independent companies on board and look forward to working with them. The new scheme has already been shown to increase opportunities for small businesses.”
What the Hastings Borough Council says
Stephen Potter, Fishing Sector Development Officer of Hastings Borough Council, comments on the new certifications: “The fishermen at Hastings are fishing today in much the same way as they have for hundreds of years, and the MSC certification endorses the sustainable nature of the hard work they do. Hastings Borough Council supports their efforts, and now local businesses are beginning to recognise that their customers are increasingly demanding environmentally sourced products. I am sure that following today’s launch of MyMSC, more businesses will want to get involved, and I will be happy to assist where I can.”
Further information
Pictures and contact details for the certified businesses are available on request.
For any media inquiries please contact media@msc.org.
