Tide to table
Making sustainable choices can be easier than you think this World Ocean Day 2025
There are few areas of the culinary world that are as diverse or as flavourful as seafood. From a mouthwatering pan-seared salmon to succulent calamari, buttery prawns, clean cut sashimi or good old fashioned fried hake and chips, these gems of the ocean are not only a feast for the senses, they are also nutritious and necessary dietary inclusions that have sustained us for millennia.
As demand for seafood continues to increase around the world, literally doubling since 1961, there is a direct impact on both the environment and the businesses and jobs dependent on dwindling stocks, which is why it’s more important than ever before to protect this precious life source.
‘Reel’ consequences of unethical practices
Fish currently ranks as one of the most highly traded food commodities in the world and is a $362 billion global industry, with over four million fishing vessels of all sizes now sailing the oceans according to the WWF. The South African fisheries sector alone is worth about R8 billion per annum and directly employs approximately 28,000 people.
As pressure from this massive industry grows to feed more and more people, the likelihood of damage to the ocean ecosystem increases, and is made worse by illegal fishing and trade. Shockingly, 18% of the marine fauna in South Africa are threatened due to pressures like illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing along with climate change, habitat damage and pollution. This is especially concerning as South Africa is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, ranking third globally for marine endemism (species found nowhere else on earth).
What exactly is sustainable seafood?
Sustainably sourced seafood essentially means it has been responsibly harvested or produced as part of a legal operation, with a minimal environmental impact bearing at-risk species in mind, and that it’s traceable to an ethical fishing origin.
Feel like something’s fishy? Here’s how to make better choices
You might be strolling along supermarket aisles and wondering how on earth you’re supposed to tell which products are best to purchase, and the good news is that there are several organisations actively working to protect sea life and fish stocks.
Reputable environmental sources and champions like the WWF-SASSI can help you make better choices, and offer resources like the SASSI List to help you identify which species to choose, avoid or which may need help to recover. All of this is packaged into an easy to understand, colour-coded system – similar to a ‘traffic-light’ where green-listed fish means go, orange means think twice, and red means no.
They also have handy tools that you can keep in your pocket (literally), like the SASSI App to help you choose green, sustainable seafood while shopping or dining out. The new SASSI app also has an AI-powered feature – helping consumers, chefs and restaurants to identify their seafood and their sustainability status. All they need to do is take a photo of their fresh fish (whole fish) and the app will identify the species.
By avoiding purchasing and cooking red-listed seafood (some of which are illegal and specially protected species) you can help safeguard them and discourage the financial incentives for those supplying them.
Get hooked on sustainable shopping with responsible retailers
These days several major retailers are adopting the responsibility of sustainable sourcing and are championing ethical fishing practices for their products. As an example, proud local retail names like Checkers are prioritising ethical supply chains and have partnered with WWF-SASSI in their Retailer/ Supplier Participation Scheme (RSPS). To prove just how easy it is to make delicious at-home meals with sustainable seafood, here is my Pan Bagnat recipe (pronounced pah n bah-nyah), made using Forage And Feast Frozen Yellowfin Tuna Portions. Picture an elevated Niçoise salad in a sandwich!
Restaurants can drive meaningful change
While there are plenty of resources to help you stock your fridge with sustainable choices, it’s up to restaurants to take responsibility for their suppliers and menus when it comes to dining out. Chefs influence consumer choices through their offering, which means that their businesses have to approach their seafood supplies with three golden questions at all times.
- What species is it?
- Where does it come from?
- How was it caught or farmed?
By doing this due diligence culinary creatives can partner with ethical supply chains, and are still left with a diverse range of green-listed species like snoek, mussels, rainbow trout and Cape bream to be inspired and make dinner-time magic. Using green-listed species pushes chefs to be more creative and inspires them to create new seafood dishes with sustainable, albeit often underutilised species, challenging them to push the culinary boundaries and create new experiences.
Not only is sustainable seafood usually of a better quality because it is fully traceable, using it also ensures a safer long-term supply of fish stock to keep the hospitality industry going.
World Ocean Day 2025
As a United Nations-affiliated holiday, World Ocean Day catalyses collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate, working in collaboration with leaders and a wide range of organisations. This year’s theme is ‘Wonder: sustaining what sustains us’.
‘Wonder is the foundation of scientific knowledge, the allure behind exploration, the curiosity that drives innovation, and the seed of traditional wisdom. In the face of increasingly daunting challenges, the act of wondering serves to remind us that we are part of something bigger. It wakes us up to our inherent connection to the earth and to each other, expands our understanding of what is possible, empowers innovation and prioritises decision-making for collective well-being.’
Find out more here.
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