The award-winning Bishopston Fish bar, on Gloucester Road Bristol has gained MSC certification which means all their fish is certified sustainable and traceable and no bears the well-recognised blue fish-tick mark.

Owner Nick Lomvardos is clearly delighted with the news that they can now add the MSC’s sustainability certificate to the collection of quality award marks and national competition results from recent years. "It’s fantastic news! Whilst we were already serving some sustainable fish we are now able to prove to our customers, through the use of the well-known blue ecolabel, all our cod and haddock are quality, certified sustainable fish. These MSC fish can be traced through the certified supply chain, which adhere to the MSC’s rigorous standards, right through to the source - to trawlers belonging to MSC certified well-managed fisheries.”

Top suppliers

Nick uses MSC certified suppliers Friar’s Pride and T Quality which supply the fish bar with frozen-at-sea cod and haddock from certified sustainable Icelandic fisheries. "The process of getting MSC certification was relatively straight forward as both my fish suppliers were already MSC certified and both were very helpful with my questions with this. I also have to thank Ruth at ROC Group and George Clark at the MSC for being so very helpful with advice, the application process and supplying staff training materials which have been much appreciated by my enthusiastic team of ladies working in our fish bar”.

Nick’s award winning Bishopston Fish Bar is the successful result of many years of training and learning from his father who started the family business of running a fish and chip shop, after returning from Greece in 1962. Nick gained his skills working in his Dad’s shop since 1986 and in 2010 bought the current Bishopston fish bar, which he successfully runs today.

The Bristol fish bar has gained excellent customer reviews, proudly displays a growing collection of awards and is keen to promote their motto; "cooked with passion, served with pride”.

A great, and unusual area

This first MSC certified fish bar in Bristol is situated on a long road, one of the main routes out of the city, in a pleasant suburb and is popular with professionals, families and students. Gloucester Road is unusual with the largest number of independent traders on any road in the UK. It remains a highly successful traditional British high street, with an affluent air, a mix of business and residential, and the shops are proud of their friendly helpful service to the local community.

Nick believes achieving the new MSC certification will be good news for both existing and new customers, "We’re in a great position here – it’s an attractive area, customers are really interested in both the traceability and the sustainability of the fish we supply, and they will appreciative of the move we’ve made. We can offer peace of mind and assurance by being able to display the ecolabel. Customers can enjoy quality MSC certified sustainable fish, knowing the supply is from independently certified businesses to the same MSC standards and certified sustainable fisheries with well-managed fish stocks.”

Bishopston Fish bar has received multiple awards including winning best regional takeaway for both 2014 and 2015, and in FRY magazine’s ‘Top 50 UK fish and chip shops.’

Nick believes the new MSC certificate for his chippie will further demonstrate his passion for providing the very best fish and chips for the region and lead to further success in national competitions, as many other national award winners also hold MSC certification. 

Nick was impressed with the marketing materials available now that the Bishopston Fish bar has been certified, which enable the chippie to highlight the MSC certified sustainable fish dishes on the menu with well-recognised blue tick mark, including stickers, display items, posters and leaflets for customers. "I’m looking forward to informing my local customers about the move to offering only MSC certified sustainable cod and haddock on my menu, having already refreshed my menu with ecolabels marking these products, and will be doing a local menu drop very soon!”

I’m passionate about serving the best fish and chips, and so proud to have achieved certification – which means, by choosing and serving MSC sustainable fish to customers we can all do our bit towards maintaining the wild fish stocks in the ocean.”

George Clark, Commercial Manager at the MSC said; "I hope the commitment shown by Nick and his team will inspire and encourage residents and visitors to Bristol to visit Bishopston Fish Bar and look for the MSC ecolabel whenever they choose fish. By choosing MSC certified sustainable fish for their menus Bishopston Fish bar are showing that they care about the future of our seas. They are pioneers in the area and the MSC label in their chippie shows the importance of certified seafood sustainability.”