New Statistics Show Widespread Concern over Plastic Pollution as France Celebrates Semaine de la Pêche Responsable

New research released today by Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has revealed that three quarters of French seafood consumers buy from producers that are minimising plastic waste, and the same number want to help fight climate change with their food choices.

The figures have been released to conclude the celebrations for Semaine de la Pêche Responsable, which took place across France last week. Now in its fourth year, Semaine de la Pêche Responsable is an annual campaign organised by ASC and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), aiming to raise consumer awareness about responsible seafood choices in order to preserve marine resources for future generations. Running from February 17 – 23, it featured events, competitions, and various educational activities involving retailers, seafood companies, aquaculture producers, fishermen, aquariums, associations and educational organisations.

“We love seafood in France, but it’s increasingly clear how passionate we are about choosing responsibly produced seafood to help protect our oceans, lakes and rivers for future generations,” said Camille Civel, Commercial Manager for ASC in France. “This week was an opportunity to inform consumers how they can take action to reward responsible producers and find out more about some of the biggest environmental and social issues facing the seafood industry today.”

The importance of the week has been underlined by new figures released today by ASC, showing that 75% of French seafood consumers want to use their food choices to fight global challenges like climate change. The survey was carried out in 2019 by GlobeScan on behalf of ASC and involved over 1,000 seafood consumers in France, as well as the same amount of consumers in six other countries. It revealed that French consumers were more concerned than any other in Europe about fighting climate change with their food choices. A further three quarters of French seafood consumers want to choose seafood products from producers that are minimising plastic pollution.

ASC is leading the fight against plastic pollution and ghost gear in the aquaculture industry. ASC farms must already meet requirements around responsible disposal of waste, but even more stringent requirements are currently being developed to ensure ASC certified farms are not contributing to the problems of ghost gear, and ASC is the first aquaculture certification scheme to join the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.

Activity for Semaine de la Pêche Responsable began with a conference on February 11 in Paris featuring expert speakers discussing the action needed to help protect the world’s oceans. A competition was also open to the public with three weekends by the sea to be won. Over thirty retailers, ASC ceftified fish farmers, MSC certified fisheries, and supply chain companies supported this year’s campaign.