Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Programme - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 363

and receiving a pocket guide. Almost 40% mentioned that they had looked for addi-
tional information about environmental impacts related to fisheries or aquaculture.
Additionally, although many had not actively sought further information on the
topic, they were more likely to read about it if they saw an article written in the
newspaper or a magazine on the subject, or they were more likely to pay attention
if they noticed somebody talking about fisheries-related environmental impacts on
television.
Despite indications of a positive impact, it was apparent during the evaluation that
many pocket guide holders continued to purchase some of the seafood in the 'avoid'
list. For example, 1 in 3 pocket guide holders indicated that they had purchased
farmed or Atlantic salmon since receiving their pocket guide, and another 12%
indicated that they might have purchased this type of salmon (but were uncertain
if it was farmed or Atlantic). Also, for some species that were the subject of a
specific campaign by the broader seafood movement, including Chilean Sea Bass
(' Take a Pass on Chilean Sea Bass ', see Chapter 7), there was a small but distinct
subset of pocket guide holders who continued to purchase these 'avoid' items (5%).
This may be attributed to the fact that environmental concerns are not the most
important determinant of consumer purchasing decisions. Environmental concerns
follow freshness, taste, possible contamination and health benefits when consumers
are choosing seafood (SCA 2003, and see Chapter 2). Price was also mentioned
as a significant barrier; however, published literature suggests that consumers are
willing to pay more for sustainable seafood (Baldassare 2003).
At the time of the 2004 evaluation, another significant barrier was restaurant
and retailer's inability to provide more information about their seafood selection
including whether it was farmed or wild, where it was from and how it was caught.
Consumers were unsure of what establishments they could shop at or eat in that
were 'on board' with the sustainable seafood movement. It should be noted that in
April 2005, new requirements issued by the US Department of Agriculture require
large retailers to label unprocessed seafood items with the country of origin and
whether the product was wild-caught or farm-raised (USDA 2004).
In interviews with a small random sample of restaurants, retailers and caterers in
the Monterey Bay area, about half were aware of Seafood Watch and 92% stated that
buying sustainable seafood was important to them. When the evaluators inquired
if customers were asking questions about the sustainability of their seafood, 77%
answered yes, with the most frequent question being whether the product was
farmed or wild. Almost half of the sample recalled customers actually using the
Seafood Watch pocket guide. About a third of the sample reported that the frequency
of questions about the sustainability of seafood was at least once a week. Half of
the participants in the survey stated that they had changed their business operations
in response to either customer demand for sustainable seafood or the Seafood
Watch programme. Of those who said they changed their operation, 85% were
familiar with Seafood Watch. A majority who had actually researched their seafood
vendors had knowledge of the Seafood Watch programme. When the restaurants