UK: Promotion of sustainable fish at Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury's is making new efforts to encourage shoppers to buy fish from sustainable sources. The UK's largest retailer of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fish and seafood products has offered customers asking for one of the 'Big Five' fish free samples of lesser known species. Shoppers were targeted at the chain's 387 UK stores with fresh fish counters through the new 'Switch the Fish' campaign, which also features regional roadshows and recipes. Currently 80 % of fish bought by British consumers belongs to the 'Big Five': cod, haddock, tuna, salmon and prawns, The Guardian reports.

This move is backed by the government and chef Jamie Oliver. Richard Benyon, the fisheries minister, said: "This is exactly the sort of thing we've been working hard for in government – sustainable fish stocks and the conservation of our precious marine environment for future generations." Sales of "alternative" species of fish and seafood soared after being championed in Channel 4's Fish Fight which launched aerlier this year. Initial supermarket sales figures suggested consumers were favouring coley, dab, mussels, squid and sardines over the salmon, cod and tuna in the TV programmes, which highlighted the wasteful use of "discard" in fishing practices.

Yet new research carried out by YouGov for Sainsbury's shows that shoppers remain set in their ways. Nearly half of Britons eat cod at least once a month while a fifth of people eat tuna at least once a week. At the same time, 84 % of Britons have never even tried megrim, while 82% have never eaten pouting. Some 43 % of fish eaters are put off trying a different type of fish because they are afraid it could not taste well, while 31 % of people admit they would not try a new fish if they did not know how to cook it.

The Guardian