Singapore is one of the biggest seafood consumers in Asia-Pacific with an average of 100,000 tonnes of seafood consumed each year. As such Singapore has an important role to play in the conservation and sustainability of marine resources.
The pocket-sized WWF Singapore Seafood Guide gives Singaporeans information about making sustainable choices when purchasing seafood. The guide uses a simple traffic light system: GREEN – recommended eating choice; YELLOW – only eat occasionally; and RED – avoid eating.
“By using this guide consumers and corporations can make a difference through informed seafood choices”, comments Ms Amy Ho, Managing Director, WWF Singapore. ‘”When buying seafood or dining out, we can use the Singapore seafood guide to choose species that are fished and farmed responsibly”.
In an opinion poll of Singaporeans commissioned by WWF 80% of those asked said they would either stop or reduce eating seafood if they were made aware that it was being unsustainably harvested.
Singapore is a hub for seafood and almost all of it is imported, much of it from a unique and important marine ecosystem next door to Singapore known as The Coral Triangle.
“The fragile marine ecosystems of the Coral Triangle are under increasing threat because fish are being taken out of the seas faster than they can be replenished”, says Dr Geoffrey Muldoon of WWF’s Coral Triangle Program.
“In the past most people have been unaware of where the fish on their plates comes from or whether the species they are eating are heavily overfished or caught in ways that are damaging to marine environment. Much of the seafood you see in Singapore may be from areas that have been overfished for years”.
The WWF Singapore Seafood Guide is one element of the broad and far reaching marine conservation work of the WWF network which promotes sustainable seafood by working along the entire ‘change of custody’ – from the ocean to the plate.
In Singapore WWF will not only be working with consumers but also with retailers, hotels, restaurants and traders to raise awareness of seafood from sustainable sources that are fished and farmed responsibly.
“We look forward to collaborating with the Singapore seafood campaign to generate greater awareness to our guests and diners about the urgent need for being sustainable and eco-friendly with our dining choices” says Mr. Ian Wilson – General Manager, Fairmont Singapore. “We will kick start this by making necessary adjustments in our menus.”
The Singapore Seafood Guide is available as a free download from the WWF Singapore website (staging.wwfsg.net) and will also be distributed free of charge throughout Singapore in a range of outlets in the coming months, including the National Geographic Store, Sentosa Nature Discovery, Sinema, Singapore Botanic Gardens, SuperNature, WISMA Atria, (see staging.wwfsg.net for further information).
