How can tourist attractions help?

The UK is a very popular destination for international travellers. According to Visit London, around 25 million people visit London every year, from the UK and abroad, to enjoy the capital’s wealth of history, art, culture, entertainment and sport. This offers a tremendous opportunity to spread the message about sustainable fish and leadership for companies and cities taking responsibility for their consumption of precious natural resources.

Tourist attractions have an important role to play, not only in serving sustainable fish, but also in communicating their commitment to their customers. The National Trust has already taken action, with its London properties signing up to Sustainable Fish City, with The British Museum, The Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and the London SeaLife Centre all joining in.

If you work for or manage a tourist attraction in London, please consider taking the Sustainable Fish City pledge. This will involve you specifying sustainable fish for your catering, and communicating this to your staff and customers. Get in touch to discuss options, telephone 020 3559 6777 or email: fish@sustainweb.org.

To show that it can be done, the organisers of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games agreed to serve only sustainable fish to the millions of spectators, athletes, media, staff, volunteers and dignitaries who attended the Games. Sustaiable Fish City helped them to devise the standards and to implement them. Read the London 2012 Food Vision (sustainable fish information on page 18).

Do your staff need training?

We have also helped caterers and chefs to learn about better alternatives to the fish they buy, and how to design menus to make best use of sustainable fish and seasonal produce. Read a report of a recent training event held at Billingsgate Seafood Training School in London, for around 40 chefs from different catering companies, restaurants, pubs and hotels. If you or your chefs would like to participate in a similar event, please get in touch: fish@sustainweb.org.

Who's working on it?

London tourist attractions and venues that have signed up to Sustainable Fish City include the Castle Climbing Centre in Hackney, RSA House, SEALIFE London Aquarium, National Trust properties, the British Museum (via its caterer Do & Co), and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) that runs London Zoo - click here to find out more. The organisers of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have also committed to using only sustainable fish in their catering for the Games.

"The National Trust is a charity which looks after special places - so the need to protect our oceans and the life they support is very clear to us. We serve only sustainably sourced fish in our 150 restaurants and cafés, deliciously prepared to traditional recipes."

“Everyone can relate to food, so it is the perfect means to demonstrate sustainability at the heart of one of the most important aspects of the London 2012 Games experience.”
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games organisers have committed to using only demonstrably sustainable fish.

“The future of the entire planet, every human, creature and plant is dependent on the health of our oceans. It’s time we started treating our oceans and the amazing life within them with the respect they deserve."
Rebecca Carter, SEALIFE London Aquarium