Concerned diners can now feed their minds at „Umoja” in Amsterdam by ordering sustainably caught fish. The Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC’s) blue eco-label marks two species on the restaurant’s menu – Alaska salmon and Hastings Dover sole.[1] More species with the blue mark will follow in due course. The MSC eco-label is awarded to fisheries that have shown, in an independent assessment, that they keep marine habitats intact, protect endangered species and do not contribute to overfishing. MSC’s eco-label is the best way to identify sustainable seafood.
Camiel Derichs, MSC’s North European Fisheries Manager, comments: “We congratulate Umoja’s manager Frank van der Zande and his team for adding MSC-labelled fish to their organic and fair trade offer. Consumers are increasingly seeking confidence that the fish they eat has been caught in a responsible way and the MSC-label gives them the assurance they ask for.”
Frank van der Zande adds: „We are committed to offering our customers fish of high quality and sustainable origin. It has to be delicious but at the same time we want to do our bit for preserving fish stocks for the future. Overfishing is a serious global problem and the MSC label is the best guarantee for Umoja and its customers that the fish we work with comes from sustainable fisheries. Thus we help to make sure that this valuable foodstuff will be available in the future.”
Umoja’s mission is to be 100 percent sustainable. It was the first restaurant in the Netherlands to become carbon neutral and has worked with organic products from day one. The restaurant is now certified to the MSC’s traceability standard, called Chain of Custody, which ensures that MSC-labelled fish truly comes from a sustainable and well-managed source. Serving MSC-labelled fish affirms Umoja’s commitment. Frank van der Zande says: “It was a logical step to seek MSC certification. The blue label offers additional assurance for us and our customers and reinforces our philosophy as a restaurant. I hope that restaurants will increasingly step up their efforts in favour of sustainable fish and join the MSC programme.”
Umoja is located at Amstelveenseweg 154 in Amsterdam. Tel. +31 (0) 20 770 64 20. www.umojarestaurant.nl offers more details on the restaurant.
