Sea for yourself: the importance of sustainably sourced fish and seafood (plus recipes by Daisy Jones)

By now you know that our oceans – that seemingly infinite blue, beautiful stretch that houses the nutritious (and delicious) fish and seafood we rely on – is under threat. So, how can you help to protect our marine life? By ensuring that the fish and seafood you consume is on the WWF-SASSI green list (the South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative), for starters.

Just in case you thought you had bigger fish to fry, here’s a reminder of why it’s important and why eating certain fish is fishy. The recently published Living Blue Planet report (2015) speaks for itself: many fish species consumed by humans have halved over the past four decades, largely thanks to unsustainable fishing practices and overfishing. Moreover, 83% of global fisheries are fully fished or beyond, according to statistics from WWF-SASSI. If these numbers are anything to go by – and if consumption of fish and seafood on the red and orange lists (click here to view the red list and here to view the orange list) – continues at this alarming rate, the future of our ocean is looking bleak.

What can you do? Choose green-list fish such as snoek, squid, angelfish and anchovy (click here to view the full green list) and support retailers that support WWF-SASSI, such as Woolworths, in an effort to conserve endangered fish and seafood for future generations.

Here are a few of our favourite (sustainable) fish recipes:

Mussels in roasted tomato and fennel sauce on pasta

Snoek sandwich with spicy cabbage relish

Roast honey-and-orange yellowtail with ginger spring onions

Mozzarella and anchovy toasties with black olives

Salt-and-pepper calamari with sweet chilli sauce