Having recently secured 60% EMFF funding via the MMO, the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB), it has appointed freelance food writer, fisheries journalist and seafood sustainability consultant Mike Warner to oversee a two year project.
The two-year project is designed to engage the wild capture and aquaculture sectors with end user businesses, with the desired outcome of driving domestic shellfish sales through better nutritional, wellbeing and dietary understanding.
David Jarrad, Director of SAGB is delighted that after months of negotiation, the funding from MMO has been secured and then match funded by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers.
‘There are huge opportunities for shellfish growth in the UK market,’ he said. ‘These need to be recognised and exploited with both increased domestic sales and exports. We catch and harvest the best shellfish in the Northern Hemisphere here in Gt Britain and yet relatively speaking, so very little of what we produce is consumed here in the UK.’
Keen to emphasise the health benefits of eating the diversity of shellfish products on offer, Mike Warner is currently working with leading nutritionists, retailers and chefs to promote home-produced crustaceans and bivalves at all levels. He will be presenting on the project at next years SAGB Annual Conference, 1st & 2nd May 2018.
‘The UK consumer needs to appreciate and understand the nutritional value of the shellfish that we produce here,’ he explained. ‘For years, we have lagged behind the rest of Europe in terms of the amount of seafood consumed per head. We have the most sustainable, traceable and ecologically sound shellfish fisheries and this project will look not only to promote sales via key market influencers, but dispel current myths and misinformation pertaining to the consuming of a multitude of both the popular and the more under-utilised shellfish species.’
