Cox revealed the National Marine Aquarium will now be spearheading Plymouth’s bid to become a Sustainable Fish City, as it continues to drive sustainable fish sourcing in the city.
The National Marine Aquarium, Destination Plymouth and Plymouth University Marine Institute joined forces last year to initiate the Plymouth Blue City project to demonstrate the sustainable seafood credentials of the city’s restaurants.
Over the last year, restaurateurs across the city have been working hard to qualify for a Fish2fork Blue Fish rating which reflects the restaurant is acting sustainably in choosing its seafood and engaging customers with information about the credentials of the food served.
With the majority of the city’s restaurants now demonstrating excellent sustainable seafood practices, Plymouth has been successful in its bid to become the first city in the world to achieve the Fish2fork Blue City award.
The Aquarium will now be looking for other caterers to follow the restaurants’ lead as Plymouth bids to become one of the UK’s first Sustainable Fish Cities.
The campaign, which is supported by top star chef, Raymond Blanc and run by a team of food and conservation groups, has so far succeeded in signing up towns and cities feeding over 13 million people to take up the challenge; Belfast, Bournemouth and Poole, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Hull, Lancashire, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Plymouth and Stockport.
The Plymouth bid is already off to a strong start as the Fish2fork Blue City award qualifies for one of the five stars, Sustainable fish innovation.
The Aquarium, along with Food Plymouth, will now be driving the project to obtain pledges from local schools, colleges, universities, hospitals and businesses to achieve the five gold-star standard.