Seafish, the public body that supports the seafood industry in the UK, is urging seafood businesses across the country to get up to speed on the impacts of climate change.

In a campaign launched today, Seafish is highlighting the importance of both mitigation, reducing our contributions to climate change; and adaptation, preparing for and responding to the impacts of a changing climate. A suite of resources have been created to highlight the challenges and opportunities that these factors bring.

A short campaign hero film gives an overview of how climate change will impact the seafood industry:

The film is supported by case studies of businesses across the seafood supply chain recognising and responding to issues. There are also blogs with more information on climate change adaptation and mitigation and links to tools and further resources.

Seafish is also launching a new e-alert that businesses can sign up for to receive climate change updates relevant to the seafood industry. Quarterly email newsletters will bring together news on research and reports, consultation, funding opportunities and events.

Aoife Martin, Director of Operations at Seafish said:

“Climate change is now recognised as one of the major challenges facing humanity. The impacts will affect us all and the seafood sector and individual businesses must respond. We’re launching a campaign on the implications for the seafood supply chain ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) taking place in Glasgow next month. Witnessing global discussions on climate change in our backyard reminds us of the significant challenges we all face.

“We already know that Seafood has a lower carbon emissions profile than other sources of protein and that eating the recommended two portions of seafood a week can be part of a climate kind flexitarian diet. However, businesses still need to work to meet Government targets for net-zero emissions within the next 30 years. They also need to adapt to the impacts that a changing climate will bring to their businesses on land and at sea. Some of these changes – increased storms and changing air and water temperatures are affecting us now.

“Many in the seafood industry are aware of these challenges and preparing to face them head on. It’s vital that businesses have access to the right information to help them navigate this complex topic, so we’re collating resources to support the seafood sector. We also want businesses to understand the opportunities associated with contributing to net zero targets, so we’re also sharing case studies to highlight some positive work already underway. Businesses can find out more and sign up for updates on our website.”

The campaign and new e-alert service are part of a wider workstream from Seafish looking at the impacts of climate change. Over the longer-term, the public body is committed to working with industry, government and other partners to:

• Develop its seafood emissions tool for fishing and aquaculture
• Ensure relevant date are collected and available to inform decisions
• Convene forums, share information, and make sure issues and potential solutions are understood.
• Facilitate and deliver seafood sector specific research to improve understanding, tackle specific problems and enable innovation.
• Convene industry stakeholders to explore pre-competitive collaborative working.

Visit the Seafish website to find out more and sign up for email newsletters – www.seafish.org/climate-change-seafood

Businesses with any specific queries about this work or interested in collaborating on future climate change projects can contact climate@seafish.co.uk