Seafood See Life is a vibrant network bringing together influential people, organisations and businesses that want to be part of a positive wave of change for our oceans.
It's not being over-dramatic to say that our oceans are in crisis. Scientists tell us that three-quarters of the world's fish stocks are "fully exploited, over-exploited or depleted". The situation in Europe is even worse, with 88 per cent of known EU stocks overfished. Globally, 90 per cent of large predatory fish like tuna, swordfish and cod have already been fished out. The situation is so serious that, if current trends are not reversed, recent scientific research predicts that fisheries for all the species we now fish commercially will have collapsed by 2050.
What can be done?
The good news is that fish stocks can recover if ecosystems are protected. There is a clear and simple answer – large scale marine reserves, essentially large scale national parks at sea that are off limits to fishing and other harmful activities. There is increasing concensus within the scientific community that marine reserves are the most effective way to protect damaged ecosystems and give fish stocks breathing space to recover, but today such reserves cover less than 0.1 per cent of the world's oceans. Action is also urgently needed to end destructive fishing practices.
Will your favourite fish be on the menu in the future? Only if we make changes to the way we manage our oceans now.
The Seafood See Life campaign
In recent years Greenpeace has worked successfully with UK supermarkets - getting them to use their economic muscle to apply pressure on their suppliers to fish sustainably, and start to phase out destructive fishing methods like bottom-trawling. But big retailers are only part of the story - chefs, restaurants and food writers also have a crucial part to play if our favourite fish dishes are not to disappear from menus all over the country - this is what Seafood See Life is all about.
The campaign launched with an event at Old Billingsgate Fish Market in London last January with top chefs Raymond Blanc and Tom Aikens urging other chefs to use only sustainable seafood
Watch the Seafood Sea Life launch video
on their menus. They've both pledged to support marine reserves, and that they will only serve seafood that they know to be sustainable.
How you can help
If you are a chef or food-writer we'd love you to lend your support to the campaign by taking the pledge.
Why not take a look at why some of Britain's top chefs and restaurateurs have already joined the campaign, or take a look at their favourite sustainable seafood recipes?
More information
Sustainable seafood - frequently asked questions
Chefs - visit the Good Catch web site. Good Catch is a UK based initiative which aims to help people in foodservice navigate the subject of seafood sustainability.
