Great news on the sustainable seafood front: Ocean Basket has joined SASSI…

The Ocean Basket restaurant chain today (Wed 30 Sept) became the latest partner of WWF’s Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative’s (SASSI) Participation scheme, which aims to limit the impact of the seafood industry on marine resources.

The partnership was announced at the South African leg of the global Sustainable Seafood Lunch, an event taking place around the globe today, from New Zealand to the United States and co-hosted by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). (read full story)

What that means:

While Ocean Basket’s commitment to SASSI’s participation scheme does not necessarily mean that all of its seafood products will be on SASSI’s Green list, as SASSI participants, it has committed to:

Ensuring that all seafood on offer is legal;

Phasing out unsustainable seafood products over time and replacing them with sustainable substitutes;

Promoting sustainable choices from responsible, well managed fisheries;

Continuously evaluating seafood product ranges against strict legal, traceability, and sustainability criteria.

Providing consumers with seafood that is adequately labelled and includes information on the species, origin, and production method (fishing gear used, or wild-caught/farmed), or any credible eco-labels that may apply;

Always endeavouring to offer seafood that is traceable to its origins, making use of suitable traceability schemes or mechanisms.

Good on ya, guys – let’s have more of this!