SWSS: Maltese sustainability expert on increasing seafood consumption

The 2016 SeaWeb Seafood Summit formally kicks off Monday, 1 February but early arrivals to the three-day conference enjoyed a field trip to the fish market in the port town of Marsaxlokk Sunday, 31 January.

There, in line with the conference’s goals of encouraging dialogue that leads to an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable seafood marketplace, attendees met with the leader of a local nonprofit dedicated to creating a culture of sustainable seafood consumption in Malta.

JD Farrugia, the director of Fish4Tomorrow, said his organization’s efforts centered on building local consumer awareness of the importance (and enjoyment) of eating seafood from sustainable sources.

“The advocacy work is important because there need to be changes made to infrastructure and legislation, but none of that is going to work unless the people are backing you,” Farrugia said. “At the end of the day, if policymakers don’t feel like the people are backing what you’re trying to do, then they’re not going to bother.”

Fish4Tomorrow has found success in pairing with local chefs and restaurants to host gourmet, five-course meals that feature local and sustainably-sourced seafood. That way, Farrugia said, people have the opportunity to taste seafood they normally wouldn’t try and hopefully discover they like it.

“I think people find it daunting to buy a type of fish that’s strange to them, and they probably aren’t familiar with trying to cook bogue or mackerel, whereas in a restaurant, prepared expertly, then people are going to be more likely to enjoy it and to try it again,” Farrugia said. “The other part of the equation is, we’re also showing chefs and restaurant owners that if you put this type of seafood on the menu, people will eat it.”

As part of its advocacy and communications work, in 2014, Fish4Tomorrow published its Quickfish Guide to provide more information to fish-eaters in Malta on the environmental sustainability of most commonly eaten species. The guide has helped improve local knowledge on the health of local fisheries and the numerous threats facing certain species of local favorites such as the Atlantic bluefin tuna and king prawns.

“We need to make people feel more comfortable so they don’t feel intimidated asking the people serving them serving about seafood on their menu,” Farrugia said.

After Farrugia’s talk and a question-and-answer session, conference attendees on the tour got a chance to sample local delicacies including calamari, octopus, sardine and anchovy prepared by the chef at a Marsaxlokk seafood restaurant. The pre-conference continued in the afternoon with a series of workshops on social responsibilities in seafood, hosted by Seafish.

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