Schoolchildren, university students, hospital patients and NHS staff across Cardiff will be offered sustainable fish as part of a campaign to make Cardiff the world’s first Sustainable Fish City [1]. Today, to celebrate World Fisheries Day, three of Cardiff’s top caterers, serving over three million meals per year have promised to help by pledging to serve only sustainable fish.

The commitments by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, City of Cardiff Council Education Catering and Cardiff University include removing all endangered species from menus, and promoting fish which has been demonstrated to be sustainable, such as Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fish [2] and those from the Marine Conservation Society’s ‘fish to eat’ list [3]. Carl Nichols Head of WRAP Cymru [4] and Chair of Food Cardiff [5], the group behind the campaign, said; “We spend nearly £30million on fish every year in Cardiff [6], and it is vital that this is invested in fisheries that are sustainably managed if we are to continue to enjoy fish for generations to come. We have been overwhelmed with support for our mission to become a Sustainable Fish City; we are a coastal city and people recognise that it’s important to protect our precious marine habitats. Congratulations and well done to the caterers that have come on board to help us celebrate World Fisheries Day.”

Jane Forshaw, Director of Environment at Cardiff Council said; “We are delighted to support the call for fish to be bought from sustainable sources. We have a tremendous opportunity to tell people about the importance of sustainable fish, and we hope that many other businesses that sell fish will pledge their support to this project”.

Dr. Sharon Hopkins, Executive Director of Public Health for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said; “Eating fish has many health benefits and we are determined to do our bit to make sure that we will still see fish on our menus long into the future. We hope this will be just the start of the NHS in Wales supporting sustainable fisheries – it doesn’t cost more to serve sustainable fish and we urge Wales’s other Health Boards to follow suit”

Cardiff is a member of the Sustainable Food Cities network, a new collaborative approach to tackling food issues across towns, cities and counties [7]. Food Cardiff will now work to generate the support of businesses, high-profile restaurants and iconic venues – asking them to sign up to a sustainable fish policy, and they are supported by a group of national and international sustainable food and marine conservation charities. Ruth Westcott, co-coordinator of the national Sustainable Fish Cities Campaign said ‘This is a movement with huge momentum. Caterers, citizens, restaurants, and towns across the UK are turning their back on unsustainable fish and it’s fantastic to see that Cardiff is ahead of the pack’. Fish is just one of many food issues that Cardiff are working on through their Sustainable Food City partnership. Over 35 places in the UK are taking this collaborative approach addressing issues including food waste, food poverty, improving public sector food and supporting food enterprises.

ENDS

For further information contact: Katie Palmer Sustainable Food Cities Coordinator, Food Cardiff
Tel: 02920 336214, 02920873230, 07814 191381
katie.palmer2@wales.nhs.uk
www.foodcardiff.com
@fairfoodcardiff

 

Notes to editors

[1] Sustainable Fish Cities is a campaign to transform the way fish is bought across towns and cities in the UK. Find out more here: https://www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/

[2] The Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organisation which recognises and rewards sustainable fishing with its sustainability certification and ecolabelling scheme. Fish or menu items bearing the MSC ecolabel can be traced back to independently certified sustainable fisheries. Each MSC certified fishery has been certified as a sustainable and well-managed fishery in a peer-reviewed, transparent, independent assessment. See: www.msc.org

[3] The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK’s leading charity for the protection of our seas, shores and wildlife. The voice for our seas for almost 30 years, MCS champions protection for marine wildlife, sustainable fisheries and clean seas and beaches. See their website at: http://www.mcsuk.org.

[4] WRAP Cymru is part of WRAP. WRAP’s vision is a world where resources are used sustainably. Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, it works in partnership to help businesses, individuals and communities improve resource efficiency. www.wrapcymru.org.uk Twitter @WRAP_Cymru For further information on WRAP Cymru please contact Luisa Pastore, Communications Manager, on 02920 100107 or luisa.pastore@wrap.org.uk

[5] Food Cardiff is a network of organisations that by promoting healthy, sustainable and ethical food as part of a thriving local economy, is striving to improve health and wellbeing and to create a more vibrant, connected and prosperous city. For further information please contact Katie Palmer Sustainable Food Cities Coordinator Tel: 02920 336214, 07814 191381 katie.palmer2@wales.nhs.uk www.foodcardiff.com @fairfoodcardiff

[6] According to https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/358342/UK_Sea_Fisheries_Statistics_2013_online_version.pdf (siting Office for National Statistics Data), consumer expenditure on fish in 2012 was £3,998 million. We therefore estimate that Consumers in Cardiff urban area (447,287 people) spend 28,303,210.

[7] The Sustainable Food Cities network is an alliance of public, private and third sector organisations using food as a vehicle for positive change. It is coordinated by Food Matters, Soil Association and Sustain, and is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.www.sustainablefoodcities.org 

[8] Sustainable Fish City is a campaign organised by an alliance of not-for-profit organisations, sustainable catering advisors and marine conservation specialists. Members of the Sustainable Fish City working group include Marine Conservation Society (MCS), the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Pisces Responsible Fish Restaurants and Seafood Choices (a project of SeaWeb). Sustainable Fish City is coordinated by Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming, see: https://www.sustainweb.org