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New Good Fish Guide: "even easier" to make sustainable seafood choices

2 minute read

Evie Martin, Media Relations Manager

10 Jun 2021

Our redesigned Good Fish Guide makes it easy for you to make decisions about the seafood you're choosing with new features and a brand new app.

For the past 18 months, our Fisheries and Aquaculture team have been beavering away on something very special and have redesigned the Good Fish Guide with new, easy to use features.

The Good Fish Guide is a simple way to find out the environmental impact of the seafood you buy. We use the best scientific advice available to create our traffic light system of ratings so you know what the Best Choices are, and which Fish to Avoid. It works on one key idea: if more people buy low-impact Best Choice seafood and steer clear of the high-impact Fish to Avoid, then businesses will follow the profits and invest in sustainable options.

And they’re right, unsustainable seafood is one of the biggest threats to our seas. Low impact fish and shellfish on the other hand are a climate and planet-friendly source of protein for millions of people around the world.

75

%

of UK adults believe that unsustainable seafood has a large impact on the sea.

Our ratings are carefully researched and rigorously reviewed by scientists, ensuring accuracy. Wild-caught seafood ratings are based on fish stocks, how well fishing is being controlled, and what the effects are on the environment, including bycatch and habitat damage. Farmed seafood ratings are based on the sustainability of the fish feed being used, welfare, aquaculture control, and wider environmental impacts. Scientists, fishermen and businesses review each proposed update to the Guide providing additional information. You can find out more about how our ratings are calculated here.

The redesigned Guide is available on our website and on a practical new app. New features include a simple search function which helps you easily find seafood ratings, with options to filter by Best Choice, or Fish to Avoid. The Guide suggests Sustainable Alternatives helping you to move away from seafood that we'd recommend avoiding, and introducing you to more environmentally responsible choices. And, if you’re feeling a little intimidated about trying something new, we’ve got recipes and how-to guides to help you in the kitchen.

The new app even works offline! So, the next time you’re in the seafood aisle, you’ll have everything you need to know, even when there’s no signal.

There’s still more to come for the Good Fish Guide, so watch this space for the latest developments. In the meantime, happy seafood browsing!

Go to www.GoodFishGuide.org to explore the Guide and install the new app.

We’re so thrilled to share the new Good Fish Guide, with thanks to generous funding, and working in consultation with businesses and consumers, the redesigned Good Fish Guide makes choosing sustainable seafood more accessible and even easier.

Charlotte Coombes, Good Fish Guide Manager
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