October is Marine Month and this week (9 to 15 October 2017) is National Marine Week. This year, the Two Oceans Aquarium and WWF-SASSI (Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative) are teaming up to highlight the importance of making informed choices when purchasing and consuming seafood.

Be sure to follow the Aquarium and SASSI on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram this week for daily important seafood updates, interactive conversations and competitions! We will be posting about sustainable seafood on our blog every day this week. The hashtag to use and follow is #MarineWeek.

“Teaming up with SASSI this Marine Week provides a great opportunity to take the sustainable seafood message beyond the Aquarium and to focus on informing and empowering consumers during this month,” says Two Oceans Aquarium Communications and Sustainability Manager Helen Lockhart. The more we are able to talk about these issues, the better. The more people know, the better informed choices they can make.”

Whether we live on the coast or in the Free State or Gauteng, as consumers we all have the power to drive change by choosing only sustainable seafood when shopping for our home or when frequenting our favourite seafood restaurant.

There’s an app for that

Out at a restaurant and not sure if what you're about to order is green-, orange- or red-listed? There's an app for that! Making the right choices around sustainable seafood has never been easier with SASSI’s colour-coded seafood guide. This traffic light system tells you whether you can eat something with a clear conscience (green), should think twice (orange) or avoid altogether (red). The guide is easily accessible through the SASSI app or SMS the name of the seafood to SASSI's FISHMS number (079 499 8795) to help you make your informed choice. You can also check out the SASSI list online.

“Consumers have the power to make a real difference by consciously making greener choices when it comes to the fish they eat,” says SASSI Manager Pavitray Pillay. “These decisions may seem small in isolation, but collectively they will make the difference as to whether we will be able to continue to enjoy seafood into the future.”

Changes to the SASSI list

Each year SASSI reviews the list and species are added, removed or have a status-change according to various species assessment that are done.

Sardines

This year, one of the species that has changed from the green list to orange is none other than the humble sardine. Yes, we now have to think twice before we enjoy a plate of those little silver fish. Once thought to be abundant, it has become clear that fishing pressures on this species is far greater than realised.

Prawns, squid, red-eye round herring, panga

Other species that have changed on the list are prawns, which are now listed as either orange or red, depending on the fishing methods used; squid is now on the green and orange lists; red-eye round herring is on the green list and panga has moved from red to orange.

Join our #ChooseGreen Twitterchat on 12 October

On Thursday 12 October 2017 at 12h00 the Two Oceans Aquarium, SASSI, WWF South Africa and Miss Earth SA will be co-hosting a live Twitterchat all about choosing sustainable seafood. Please join us for an hour or so as we open up the questions and kick-start the conversation. The hashtag for this Twitterchat is #ChooseGreen – sea you there!

Win on Instagram!

Keep an eye on the Aquarium’s and SASSI’s Instagram accounts this week … We are giving away some fun prizes to two lucky, observant Instagrammers. Look out for the competition post, answer the question correctly and you will be entered into a draw to win either one set of double tickets to the Aquarium, or an awesome hamper from SASSI including an exclusive WWF-SASSI T-shirt, a reusable water bottle and a “pandalicious” apron…

Competition terms and conditions