Personal action plan

Your 6 step plan to an ocean friendly appetite

You are what you eat. Seafood lovers of the world, it's time to slap your appetites into line with your ethics, and here's the Stinky 6-step plan to help you do just that.

But nothing worthwhile comes easy. Have you made that decision? Are you ready to be less stinky and shellfish?

Nowadays many people give a much larger place to seafood in their diet. And tastes have broadened enormously. And of course fish is sold as an answer to many health problems. With so much good seafood on offer, with such an abundance of energy and ideas in the business of cooking and promoting it, you could easily get the idea that this incredible plenty extends to the fisheries and oceans themselves. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

Many people have a sense that the world's oceans are in trouble, but few seem to understand just how much trouble.

In a single human lifetime we have inflicted a crisis on the oceans greater than any yet. It is caused by overfishing - the single biggest threat to our oceans.

So here's what you can do.

Step 1
Commit to MSC

Ok so the first step is probably the hardest of the lot. You’ve gotta admit that you have a problem. Yup, by buying and eating unsustainable seafood you are contributing to the destruction of our oceans. There you go, I said it. It’s tough, but I’m all about tough love. And once you’ve admitted that then the next bit is easy, start looking on how you can change consumption habits.

Step 2
Buy MSC certified seafood

Always look for the MSC ecolabel. Buying MSC seafood is the simplest and most reliable action you can take to be ocean friendly. All these complicated decisions – just summed up in a label! Easy.

If you still can’t find MSC seafood, take a look at the WWF seafood guides

Step 3
Have a seafood party!

Now that’s more like it. I may be stinky, but I sure know how to dance. Introduce your friends and family to varied, new dishes – you’ll find some recipes here – and make sure you tell those friends how they can be fish friendly and Stinky dinky. Heck, why not make a night of it at the same time?!

Step 4
Eat and shop differently!

Diversify! Broaden your tastes. Eat something that looks scary. There are more than 100 species available in the UK, yet just 10 species of fish account for 75% of all the seafood that’s sold in our shops. When you buy your fish this week, take home an MSC-certified fish that you haven’t cooked before and try out a new recipe.

Step 5
Help our Sustainable Seafood Shopping Survey

Look for sustainable seafood in your favourite shops, and report back to us. And let the shops know what you think, and what they can do to change. Download and print your guide to action (PDF - 60kb). Step 6
Give the 6 step plan to 6 friends

By this point you are one hell of an ambassador for us us fish. So spread the word. Stop the stink that rises from our oceans, the stink of unnecessary and wasteful fish slaughter. Send this website link to six friends. Help save the oceans.