Why You Should be Celebrating Sustainable Shellfish on Your Menu this September

This year’s Sustainable Seafood Campaign is focusing on the ‘Big Five’ species of seafood that are predominantly eaten in the UK – tuna, salmon, cod, haddock and prawns. While sustainable products from the Big Five can be found across the UK, a cooking demonstration at the launch event offered an opportunity for restaurant businesses to learn about some of the alternative sustainable seafood species that can also be enjoyed by seafood lovers, inspiring chefs and restaurant operators to get more creative in designing their menus.

A private chef prepared dishes using delicious MSC-certified shellfish from around the world including Canadian and Patagonian scallops, and Arctic surf clam and snow crab from Canada, as well as king scallops and langoustines – two species that are currently in Project UK, a collaborative partnership working towards an environmentally sustainable future for UK fisheries. 

At The Sustainable Restaurant Association, ‘Source Seafood Sustainably’ is one of the 10 key focus areas of our Food Made Good Standard. Through this, we aim to encourage chefs and restaurant operators to put care into how and where they source their seafood, ensuring that it has been caught or farmed in a manner that protects marine and freshwater ecosystems and does not come from biologically unsustainable stocks, such as overfished or endangered species.

The restaurant industry wields a huge influence over our food systems, and – through careful procurement policies and menu design – has the power to support healthy fish stocks and biodiversity in our oceans, as well as putting diversity on our plates. Restaurants can play a significant role in educating, encouraging and empowering customers to choose seafood that comes from sustainable sources.

In 2022, research conducted by GlobeScan – involving more than 25,000 respondents across 23 countries including over 1,260 in the UK – showed that 70% of respondents believe the choices they make about eating fish/seafood can make a difference to the health of our oceans, while 77% agreed that, in order to save our oceans, we have to consume fish and seafood only from sustainable sources.

It's clear that UK consumers are hungry for change when it comes to sustainable seafood; make sure that your restaurant is poised to meet this demand! Get creative with alternative, sustainably sourced seafood species this month and share your dishes on social media using #SustainableSeafoodSeptember. Follow @MSCintheUK on social media to keep up to date with the latest news on sustainable seafood.


The only sustainability accreditation designed especially for the F&B industry, the Food Made Good Standard is the best way to communicate your sustainability credentials to customers, stakeholders and potential employees. Sign up today!