Royal seal of approval for 'sustainable seafood'

‘Sustainable seafood’ got some royal support recently as Prince Charles’ International Sustainability Unit  (ISU) Marine Programme issued a report on ‘sustainable fishing.’ The prince—who is president of WWF-UK—said it was cause for optimism about the future of global fish stocks, despite their current dire state.
Speaking at Fishmongers’ Hall in London, he said it was “critically urgent” that countries find better ways of dealing with over-fishing and other marine environmental threats. The prince added that “oceans are becoming more acidic; run-off from industrialised farming is causing waters to become too rich in nutrient, thus creating dead zones in the oceans; waters are getting warmer, and more and more square miles of them are being polluted with plastic.”

© National Geographic Stock/Paul Nicklen /WWF-Canada

The ISU report, Fisheries in Transition, has 50 case studies demonstrating how once unsustainable fisheries can be turned around.
David Nussbaum, chief executive of WWF-UK, likens the need to act on ‘sustainable fishing’ to the country’s bank crisis. “Just as the banking system is a public good on which we all depend, so are sustainable fisheries. If fisheries collapse, who will bail out the oceans?”
Who, indeed.
Find out what WWF is doing to rebuild the cod stocks industry in Atlantic Canada. You can also check out Prince Charles’ message to WWF on our 50th anniversary last year.