A special pet food category has been added to this year’s Marine Stewardship Council UK’s Awards, which celebrate outstanding achievements and performance in sustainable fishing and seafood.
The awards will for the second-year running be streamed from the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth, on October 7.
The new MSC UK Pet Food Brand of the Year category will be ‘self-nominated’, scored by an expert judging panel and awarded to a brand that has ‘taken innovative steps to introduce new MSC products and promote the importance of certified sustainable fish in pet food’.
George Clark, MSC UK & Ireland programme director, said: “Following the unprecedented challenges of the past year, it is exciting to be able to celebrate the incredible hard work of those dedicated to delivering sustainable seafood to consumers across the UK.
CELEBRATING
“We are particularly thrilled to be able to introduce four new categories this year and look forward to celebrating virtually with everyone. We will be sharing further announcements about the event and awards in due course.”
MSC UK ambassador, restaurateur, chef and author Mitch Tonks will be on the expert judging panel along with CJ Jackson, chief executive of Billingsgate Seafood School, and Marcus Coleman, chief executive of Seafish and Bryce Stewart, marine ecologist and fisheries biologist at York University.
And for the first time MSC is also welcoming the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, which will be presenting a guest award, ASC UK Retailer of the Year, recognising the progress made by the farmed seafood sector over the past year in the UK.
The MSC is an international non-profit organisation that sets globally recognised, science-based standards for sustainable fishing and seafood traceability.
The blue MSC label on a seafood product means that: it comes from a wild-catch fishery that has been independently certified to the MSC’s science-based standard for environmentally sustainable fishing, meaning it is fully traceable to a sustainable source.
