UK Government 'puts its own house in order' on sustainable fish

Sustainable Fish City today welcomed the announcement that the Coalition Government has committed to using sustainable fish in all of its catering for Number 10, Whitehall, Central Government departments, prisons, and some parts of the armed forces - improving the meals of nearly 400,000 people [1].

“These new standards mean that for the first time, over £16 million [2] of fish bought with taxpayers’ money ever year will now be covered by compulsory sustainability standards,” said Jon Walker, coordinator of the Sustainable Fish City campaign [3], which helps London's organisations, businesses and consumers to choose sustainable fish. “This is good news for fish and precious marine environments, and good news for sustaining decent livelihoods in the fishing industry. Hundreds of thousands of citizens have demonstrated their concern about declining fish stocks through high-profile campaigns such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight. We’re delighted that Government has put its own house in order and opted to buy only sustainable fish.”

Campaigners had previously highlighted that fish served in Whitehall and Number 10 Downing Street had worse seafood sustainability standards than the cat food served to Number 10’s Larry the Cat, because leading pet food brands such as Whiska’s had already made the switch to sustainable fish. [4]

The picture (left) shows Sustain campaigners Alex Jackson, Kath Dalmeny and Charlie Powell delivering Whiska's cat food to Defra in March 2011. Their aim was to show that even cat food now has sustainability standards for its fish ingredients (Whiska's had committed to using Marine Stewardship Council certified fish), yet at the time, government catering did not!

Sustainable Fish City is a campaign aiming for London to become the first city where shops, caterers and businesses buy and serve only sustainable fish. It is run by a group of leading fish conservation organisations, including the Marine Conservation Society, Marine Stewardship Council, Pisces Responsible Fish Restaurants, Seafood Choices – and coordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming. [5]

“Everyone who buys food in London, whether as a consumer, a government body or a food business, can help secure a sustainable fish future,” said Rosie Boycott, chair of the London Food Board [6], which promotes healthy and sustainable food for London, and which recently worked with the GLA group (Greater London Authority, Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade) to help them adopt a sustainable fish buying commitment [7]. Rosie Boycott continued, “Many national government departments and offices are based in London, so today’s positive announcement means that we have taken the next big step towards the capital becoming a sustainable fish city. London's public bodies are already working to meet these standards and we would love to see many more businesses and organisations follow suit.”

Organisations that have already pledged to adopt a sustainable fish buying policy include 14 top universities, the National Trust, Sealife London Aquarium, the London Metropolitan Police, 16 leading restaurants and chains, one of the biggest caterers in the UK and several smaller ones [8]. Many more organisations are currently in the process of signing up. This follows the adoption of a fully sustainable fish policy by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, on which the Sustainable Fish City group advised [9]. It also comes in the week when Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s all made major moves to improve the sustainability of fish served to consumers in the UK [10].

For enquiries, contact Jon Walker or Kath Dalmeny, Sustainable Fish City, tel: 0203 5596 777; email: fish@sustainweb.org. The Sustainable Fish City website is at: www.sustainablefishcity.net

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Notes to editors

[1] The commitment to using only sustainable fish comes in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) ‘Government Buying Standards’ for food, which cover one third of the public sector in the UK, in Central Government (i.e. not hospitals, schools, care homes or local authorities – making up the remaining two thirds of public sector food spend). There have previously been no compulsory sustainability standards for public sector food, including fish and seafood. The standards apply only in England. See: http://sd.defra.gov.uk/documents/GBS-guidance-food.pdf

[2] Defra estimates £322m is spent on food for Central Government each year, and that 5% of this total is spent on fish and seafood. Data from: Impact Assessment of 'Government Buying Standards' specifications food and food services, Defra, 2011.

[3] The Sustainable Fish City campaign was launched in January 2011, and has already received sustainable fish pledges from fourteen London universities, the National Trust, the SEALIFE London Aquarium, top restaurants and leading caterers. This followed the adoption by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games of a fully sustainable fish policy, and the adoption by the GLA Group (Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, London Fire Brigade and the Greater London Authority – City Hall) of the London 2012 Food Vision, which includes a commitment to using sustainable fish. For further details of pledge signatories, see:
https://www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/whos_working_on_it/

[4] See Good Food for Our Money campaign press release, March 2011: “Government's fish standards will be worse than for pet food eaten by Number 10's Larry the Cat”: https://www.sustainweb.org/news/march2011_gffom_no10_cat/

[5] Sustainable Fish City is 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 the Environmental Justice Foundation, 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/sustainablefishcity/about/

[6] The London Food Board is an advisory group of independent food policy organisations and experts which oversees the implementation of The Mayor’s Food Strategy: Healthy and Sustainable Food for London, published in 2006 (and referred to here as the London Food Strategy) and to co-ordinate work and lead the debate ought on sustainable food issues in the Capital. The London Food Board is chaired by Rosie Boycott, the Mayor of London’s food advisor, and is supported by Greater London Authority’s Food Team. For more information, see: http://www.london.gov.uk/london-food/general/what-london-food-board. The London Food Board supports Sustainable Fish City as an affiliate organisation, and public sector organisations participating in the initiative have benefited from practical support and advice from the Good Food on the Public Plate project, supported by the Mayor of London, see: http://www.gfpp.org.uk

[7] The GLA Group (Greater London Authority, Metropolitan Police, Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade) committed to adopting the London 2012 Food Vision, which includes a commitment to sustainable fish, in December 2010. See press release “Rosie Boycott promises good food for London police, transport workers and the fire brigade” at: https://www.sustainweb.org/news/gla_food_procurement/

[8], [9], [10] See information and news about signatories to the Sustainable Fish City pledge at: https://www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/whos_working_on_it/ and https://www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/fish_news/