News
High street eateries and pubs falling short on seafood sustainability
High street restaurants and pubs need to do more to prevent seafood being overfished, analysis by Fish2fork and the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) shows.
Of 11 restaurant and pub chains assessed, Yates, Giraffe, Little Chef, Slug and Lettuce and Wasabi failed to meet Fish2fork and MCS’ minimum expectations on sustainability. Jamie’s Italian was the highest ranked outlet, closely followed by Brasserie Blanc, Loch Fyne, Las Iguanas, Strada and then TGI Fridays.
Fish2fork and MCS looked at the origins of the seafood served, the information provided to customers, and the approach to sourcing by 11 restaurant and pub chains to provide a rating for each outlet. More than a third of high street restaurant and pub chains rated by Fish2fork and MCS in the last two years have failed to meet the two organisations’ minimum expectations on sustainability. Almost a third of commercial fish stocks are now overharvested, according to the United Nations, and with 15% of the world’s annual catch being caught illegally, efforts to use sustainable supplies of seafood are vital.
However, some popular restaurant and pub chains are making huge strides towards ensuring that only responsibly sourced seafood is served on the high street.
“It’s fantastic to see the work restaurants like Jamie’s Italian and several others are putting into seeking out sustainable seafood,” said Tim Glover, managing director of Fish2fork. “It’s not easy to ensure seafood is responsibly sourced, but it’s vital for the health of our seas and worth every penny invested by restaurants.”
He added: “I’d like to offer my congratulations to Jamie’s Italian, Loch Fyne, Brasserie Blanc, Las Iguanas, Strada, TGI Friday for achieving a blue fish rating in this phase of our project to assess high street chains. They are setting an example that we think others could and should follow.”
Samuel Stone, Head of Fisheries and Aquaculture at MCS said “We shouldn’t have to leave our values and ethics behind when we eat out, and these blue fish rated restaurants are showing us that we don’t need to when we order the seafood from their menus.”
King prawns and other tropical prawns were, once again, identified as one of the most problematic types of seafood used by restaurants and pubs. Fish2fork and MCS encourage restaurants to use certified supplies but too often they either fail to do so or fail to make it clear to customers what their source is.
A lack of information to consumers remains one of the obstacles to diners who wish to eat seafood sustainably. Lack of transparency and information makes it impossible for the public to be sure the seafood being served is from well managed fisheries and fish farms.
Of 32 of the nation’s most popular restaurant and pub chains rated since 2015, 13 have been given red fish ratings while 19 received blue fish ratings. Fish2fork ratings are on a scale of 5 red fish, the worst, to 5 blue fish, the best. With 5 red fish at the bottom of the scale, ratings improve, half a fish at a time, to rise to 4.5 red fish, 4 red fish and so on until 0.5 red fish. From here, ratings rise from 0.5 blue fish to 5 blue fish.
June 2017 ratings:
Blue fish (best)
- Jamie’s Italian – 3.5 blue
- Brasserie Blanc – 3 blue
- Las Iguanas – 3 blue
- Loch Fyne – 3 blue
- Strada – 3 blue
- TGI Friday – 1.5 blue
Red fish (worst)
- Yates – 1 red
- Giraffe – 1.5 red
- Little Chef – 2 red
- Slug & Lettuce – 3 red
- Wasabi – 3 red
MCS and Fish2fork are working to ensure that all seafood eaten or traded in the UK is from well managed fisheries and fish farms that have as little impact on the marine ecosystem as possible.
Diners can now post up their own reviews of restaurants across the UK using DinerRatings, an online initiative available via fish2fork.com or on the MCS Good Fish Guide app which is available, free, on iphone and android.
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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