Dorset launches seafood campaign – Fishupdate.com

Dorset launches seafood campaign Published:  17 August, 2011

Seafood choices could help to save Dorset’s sea life, according to Dorset Wildlife Trust.  Great Dorset Seafood is a major new UK campaign to support the most environmentally sensitive use of the riches of the seas .

Emma Rance, Marine Conservation Officer at Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: “Overfishing and unsustainable fishing methods are among the biggest problems facing the world’s oceans.  This is one thing that we can all do something about – by thinking about the seafood we buy. 

“By encouraging both consumers and retailers to source seafood caught by our Dorset inshore fishermen, fishing from small boats in more selective ways, we can not only help reverse the decline of the marine environment, but also contribute towards a thriving inshore fishing industry in Dorset, producing good quality seafood.”

The Great Dorset Seafood campaign will encourage a return to a healthy and productive marine environment by helping people to make the right choice of seafood in shops and restaurants, encouraging retailers to source responsibly and providing information on the way marine species are caught in Dorset. 

Dorset has one of the few fisheries in the UK that do not allow boats over 12 metres to fish within 6 miles of the coast, so locally-caught seafood is from small boats which are likely to have less impact on the seabed and wildlife.  Recommended Dorset fisheries include potting for crab and lobster, rod and line fishing for sea bass and bream and diver-picked scallops. 

Emma added: “With The Great Dorset Seafood campaign, we want to make it easy for people to make good choices about the seafood that they buy.  This can really make a difference to the wildlife off our coasts, it’s good for local fishermen and it tastes better because it’s freshly caught.  The campaign slogan says it all, really – ‘for wildlife, for Dorset, for you’.”