WWF launches new guide and app for sustainable fish consumption

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has launched a new guide to shopping for sustainable fish species.

Overfishing is a problem not only in the Atlantic and North Sea, but worldwide, the organisation points out. While much of the damage is caused by indiscriminate fishing by factory ships, consumers are not powerless. By shopping for fish whose stocks are being maintained (or in rare cases increased) consumers can protect more vulnerable species. If demand drops, prices also fall, making vulnerable fish uneconomic to catch.

The guide offers a choice (where available) for each species between the best choice of source, a good choice, a source to be used only rarely and one to be avoided at all costs. For anchovies, for example, the southwest Atlantic is best, Bay of Biscay acceptable, South America, Morocco, Black Sea and Balearics inadvisable and Mediterranean to be avoided.

The consoguide (or viswijzer in Dutch) is available to download in PDF format for PC or print and another PDF for tablet or smartphone. A Week of Sustainable Fish promotion will take place from 9 to 13 December. www.wwf.be