Sustain or Forfeit: Latest Message From Greenpeace

Seafood See Life at Old Billingsgate Fish Market, London, the latest Greenpeace initiative, introduced celebrity chefs and marine experts who warned that we must use sustainable methods to obtain fish, or face the possibility that fish for food won’t be available at all.

Seafood See Life are the latest group in a Greenpeace campaign for sustainable fishing practices. So far, they have been successful in persuading supermarkets to stock more fish from sustainable sources, but their focus has now turned to food writers, restaurateurs, and consumers in the hope they will get on board. Chefs with three Michelin stars between them, Raymond Blanc and Tom Aikens, are endorsing the proposition, and thus providing encouragement to get other people involved.

Everyone who attended the speech at the Fish Market was asked to pledge to do their share to protect the oceans, with many people signing up on the spot.

A talk about the destruction of fish stocks over the years was given by Professor Callum Roberts, author of The Unnatural History of the Sea. He compared the fish stocks of previous generations, where cod was so big it was impossible to pick them up, to the stock crisis that exists today. Greenpeace, in a hope to somewhat reverse the situation, are calling for 40% of our oceans to be designated marine reserves where no fishing is allowed to take place.

Raymond Blanc’s contribution was an exciting speech (which can be found here), about personal responsibility, suggesting that a contributing factor to the issue is that people have turned a blind eye for a long time, not caring about the source of their fish as long as it is there for them to enjoy.

Tom Aikens, the other celebrity chef present, talked about his own personal journey (to be found here), about discovering the issue of sustainability during a launch of a new fish and chip shop.