At Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, we recognise fishing to provide seafood, has been vital to Yorkshire’s heritage, and it remains a key industry supporting coastal communities and local economies. We also actively support the movement towards environmentally aware food choices, which includes the reduction of the consumption of seafood from unsustainable sources, as currently populations of marine life are under severe pressure.
However, we know sustainable fishing is possible with good regulation and management; and the industry needs support to transition to more sustainable practices to maintain livelihoods and to provide food to people who want to retain fish as part of their diet.
Therefore, alongside campaigning against threats to the North Sea and working closely with policy makers to advocate for better fisheries management, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is providing local communities with information about sustainable seafood choices and the importance of moving away from damaging, indiscriminate, industrial-scale fishing. By choosing seafood from healthy, responsibly managed sources, we can all help improve the sustainability of the fishing and seafood industries. In turn, this will help marine ecosystems recover from overfishing and help oceans to play their beneficial role for the climate, for boosting fish stocks, improving food security, and supporting livelihoods.
