Sustainable Seafood Sales Increase in the U.K. - Netherlands

British and Dutch consumers are increasingly committed to buying sustainable seafood products even in difficult financial times. Independent research shows a 154% increase in consumer spend on sustainable seafood in the UK, and a 50% increase in the Netherlands.

U.K. Sustainable Seafood

Despite just 1% growth in overall household expenditure between 2007 and 2009, the sustainable seafood sector flourished, with UK spend on sustainable seafood reaching £178 million over the same period.

The UK’s Co-operative Bank Ethical Consumerism 2010 Reportshows that overall and throughout the recession, there has been growing support by British consumers for green goods and services, including an 18% increase in total spend between 2007 and 2009.

Ethical and environmentally friendly food and drinks is one of the fastest growing sectors within the category (27% over the last two years) but across all services and goods the market for sustainable seafood is one of the key drivers of the overall growth.

Netherlands Sustainable Seafood

In a separate survey on food and sustainability in the Netherlands, researchers found that spend on sustainable-labelled wild-caught seafood increased by 50% in the first six months of 2010, compared to the same period in 2009. Of that expenditure, over two-thirds comes from products carrying the MSC ecolabel for certified sustainable seafood.

In the first half of 2010, overall food expenditure in the Netherlands increased by just 1.4% while consumer expenditure on sustainable and ecolabelled food increased by 25.5%. However, the leap in revenue from sustainable seafood – from €39 to 59 million, makes it one of the fastest moving sectors in the Netherlands.

source: MSC

Dutch Government Offers Funds for Fishery Certification

The Dutch parliament voted recently to amend the government’s 2010 budget to make an additional 500,000 euros available for fishery assessment and certification. The decision means that The Netherlands have now allocated a total of €1.5m towards fishery certification.

source: MSC press release