The announcement follows Tesco’s decision to support the scheme with an investment of £25,000 to sponsor local vessels through the scheme.
Jo Wren, Regional Marketing Manager in the South West for Tesco, said: “We are excited that this project is underway. This is a great opportunity for us to show that we are sourcing our seafood responsibly and to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our customers at a local level. Customers should look out for the Responsible Fishing Scheme logo on the fish counter and pick up a leaflet for more information about the fish they are eating.”
Developed in 2006 by Seafish, the authority on seafood, the Responsible Fishing Scheme promotes good operational and environmental practices. Based on a Publicly Available Specification from the British Standards Institution (BSi), the scheme is an independent, audited assessment of the application of good practice by a vessel skipper and crew in their fishing operations.
There are nearly 600 UK registered vessels actively involved with the scheme, with over 350 now fully certified and ten new boats are joining the scheme every month. This represents over 40% of the overall registered tonnage of the British fishing fleet.
Commenting on the trial, Jon Harman, Development Director at Seafish, said: “We are delighted that Tesco has chosen to take this step which will significantly raise the profile of responsibly-sourced seafood, the future of our industry. We are looking forward to working with Tesco and its suppliers and hope that the success of this trial will be replicated in other stores throughout the country.”
The Cornish sardines will be supplied by the Lyonesse, skippered by Sam Lambourn, and the sprats caught by Constant Friend, skippered by David Hurford from Brixham.
Mark Greet, Managing Director at local supplier, Falfish, said “We take responsible sourcing extremely seriously and encourage fishermen supplying their catch to us to be certified by the Responsible Fishing Scheme. We look forward to supplying Tesco with the seafood for this trial.”
