Cook with Michelin-starred chefs for sustainable seafood week
A host of Michelin starred chefs are fronting Sustainable Seafood Week this week. MSC ambassador Mitch Tonks, Paul Ainsworth and Tom Aikens will be part of the Sustainable Seafood Supper, a series of livestreamed cooking classes hosted on Instagram. The chefs will each show how to cook a sustainable seafood recipe while answering questions and comments from viewers in real time. The live-stream can be watched at each chef’s own Instagram at 6pm each evening and will be available here afterwards.
Schedule:
Mon 14 Sept, Tom Aikens, Baked plaice with lemon peel and lemon risotto. Tues 15 Sept, Paul Ainsworth, Dayboat Fish Burger (with hake) Thurs 17 Sept, Mitch Tonks, Hake in salsa verde
This is the MSC’s first Sustainable Seafood Week in the UK from 10th – 17th September, which sees the organisation working with major retailers, brands, restaurants as well as fish and chip shops to encourage consumers to support our oceans and look out for seafood products carrying the MSC blue fish ecolabel. Products carrying the label are sourced from wild-catch fisheries which meet the highest international benchmarks for sustainability.
MSC ambassador, chef and restaurateur Mitch Tonks said: “Consumers are more and more aware of provenance and making sure that they can buy with confidence. I think the pandemic has actually given many people a chance to think about the food they are buying and the things that matter to them. Buying from a trusted source is really important and recognising the MSC labelling helps consumers have real confidence that not only is the fish sustainable but it’s going to be great quality too and make for really good eating.”
It is twenty years since MSC labelled products were first introduced into the UK and there are now more than 1,450 MSC certified products available in thousands of locations across the UK. More than £1 billion was spent on MSC certified products in 2019 representing one quarter of total customer spend on fish and seafood in UK supermarkets. This figure has tripled in the past six years showing the huge growth in availability of sustainable seafood.
However, despite significant progress in achieving sustainable fisheries, overfishing continues to be a major global challenge which threatens ocean wildlife, livelihoods and seafood for future generations. According to a UN report released earlier this year, a third of global fisheries (34.2%) are operating at unsustainable levels, with this trend continuing to worsen. During Sustainable Seafood Week, consumers can play their part in addressing this global challenge by choosing seafood with the MSC blue fish ecolabel. Small actions can make a big difference in helping to end overfishing and protecting our oceans.
