Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Programme - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 365

Green consumers will respond if the action is convenient and acceptable in terms
of cost and effort. For example, pocket guides are convenient and easy to use,
but endorsements of seafood purveyors and restaurants would reduce mental effort
even further in choosing sustainable seafood. Therefore, Seafood Watch developed
a local restaurant programme to identify establishments for consumers (a model
we encourage our partners to adopt). In addition, we identify seafood products
ecolabelled by the MSC (that are available in the retail marketplace) on the Seafood
Watch pocket guides and online and contribute in an advisory capacity to businesses
seeking to carry sustainable offerings, such as EcoFish (www.ecofish.com) and our
partners in the food service industry.
Green consumers want to perceive that their actions lead directly to environ-
mental improvement. They want reasons and feedback on the effect of their buy-
ing decisions. Therefore, Seafood Watch is better utilising the internet to engage
and communicate with consumers as evidenced by our Seafood Advocates pro-
gramme. We distribute regular email newsletters that include individual success
stories, announce new commitments from restaurants and retailers and provide pe-
riodic updates regarding any changes to the seafood recommendations to thousands
of concerned consumers, partners and Seafood Advocates.
Green consumers might respond more strongly if environmental issues are linked
to health issues. In fact, consumers have expressed that it is Monterey Bay Aquar-
ium's moral responsibility to share such information if a 'best choice' or 'good al-
ternative' recommendation is associated with public health advisories. In response,
Seafood Watch has partnered with ED to include consumption advisories on the
pocket guides.

17.10 Conclusions

Seafood Watch has embraced evolution as a critical component of the broader sus-
tainable seafood movement. As the sustainable seafood movement (Chapter 7) gains
momentum, Seafood Watch will continue to create a positive shift in issue-salience,
attitudes and behaviour through activities such as pocket guide distribution, aquar-
ium education and our Cooking for Solutions annual event. Our regional epicentre
partnership strategy will support the development of such campaigns in communi-
ties across the United States. An expansion of our work with major seafood buyers
in the food service industry will continue to foster substantial transitions towards
sustainable seafood purchasing. Continued research into international, national and
regional fisheries and aquaculture will help identify a viable supply of sustainable
seafood.
The programme has established a financial strategy that enlists support from
the Monterey Bay Aquarium, philanthropic institutions, donations from corporate
sponsors, and reimbursement for some materials by our partner institutions, to en-
sure our viability into the future. Ultimately, it is our intention that this coordinated,