There are an ever-increasing number of businesses and suppliers in the fish and chip shop sector who are passionate about getting Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody certification. This growth is enabling shops to meet growing consumer demand for both traceable and certified sustainable seafood, using the well-known blue ecolabel.

There has never been a better time for NFFF Quality Award holders to get MSC certified – who can now receive a £100 discount on their certification fee!

Customers are increasingly familiar with the MSC’s ecolabel, the sustainable seafood mark that can be found on products in major supermarkets across the UK and is increasingly being recognised on chip shop menus.

The ecolabel offers reassurance that the fish a customer is buying is sourced from a certified sustainable fishery, and is fully traceable.

With the National Fish and Chip Awards regularly being won by MSC certified businesses, it suggests leading fish and chip shops believe certification is now more than ever, an integral part of running a successful business. It is a positive step for all shops to take in order to move towards improving the health of the world’s oceans and promotes sustainable fishing practices to consumers at the point of selling Britain’s favourite takeaway meal.

Newly certified fish and chip shops…passionate supporters of the MSC

Penaluna’s in and Brockleys Rock, Lewisham, London are two award winning fish and chip shops (and Quality Award holders) who have recently gained Chain of Custody certification, m eaning they can proudly serve MSC certified sustainable fish, marked with an ecolabel, to their customers.

FishCity in is another - the first fish and chip shop in Northern Ireland to gain MSC Chain of Custody certification.

Grainne Lavery, of FishCity explains why they decided to get certified;

We have a ‘FishCity Kids Club’, where we invite local school childrento learn about sustainability, keeping our oceans safe for the future and looking out for the MSC ecolabel when shopping with their families for seafood.We decided it was the perfect synergy to gain MSC certification, to demonstrate to the children, and parents, our commitment to sustainable fishing procedures.Having the MSC certification is excellent for our business. Customers today expect transparency and provenance as to where their food originates, the MSCcertification enables the customer to have confidence in their seafood choices.We are very proud to be the first business in Northern Ireland to have MSC certification, creating a real sense of advantage and difference, and we hope that other members of the business community will embrace MSC certification.”"MSC certification identifies us with world-wide businesses andorganisations. The unmistakable logo is easy to recognise and it will help show people that even as a small business in a village in Wales, we are part of an international caring family. It highlights that however small you are you can contribute to seafood sustainability.”"…(it) gives us peace of mind knowing that the cod and haddock we sell is being caught sustainably by certified fishermen. Overfishing is a real issue, and while there are laws and moratoriums in place to limit fish caught, it^s the MSC that are helping, reversing the damage that’s been done.”"The staff fully embraced the MSC training - the MSC training videowas an excellent resource for information, we enjoyed the entire training package…The staff are now very proud and feel privileged towear the MSC logo on their uniforms.”(Grainne Lavery at FishCity).George Clark, MSC UK Commercial Manager, is delighted with the interest and passion the newly certified businesses have for MSC certification, including the numerous participants in the recent MSC #fishface campaign."It’s amazing to see so many of the UK’s best fish and chip shops get certified to the MSC’s traceability standard and show their customers the commitment they are making. As more and more MSC species become available through a growing number of certified suppliers, shops are seeing it pass through their business regularly and are taking the decision to get certified themselves and put the MSC ecolabel on their menus.”For Quality Award holders there is an extra benefit for those wishing to get certified – as they won’t require an on-site audit, which reduces costs by £100 discount. The total certification cost to Award Holders is £250 for one year’s certification.Further details on MSC’s Chain of Custody certification can be found here- george.clark@msc.org and 020 7246 8917. For enquiries regarding group certification contact Ruth at the RoC Group; on ROCGroupUK@gmail.comand visit her website