Great Solent Seafood

Healthy, delicious, and versatile – it’s no wonder that seafood is a favourite food for many people. Eating fish and shellfish can be a great way to broaden your culinary horizons and better connect with our seas, as long as you do it in a sustainable way.

As on land, the quality and availability of seafood is tied to the health of the environment. Fishing can have a significant impact on our waters, but several different factors combine to determine how large that impact is. From the time and location, to the target species, to the equipment used.

Unfortunately demand for local species is low in the UK - over half of what we catch is sent abroad while around 80% of what we eat is imported. What's more, the markets we export to often place less emphasis on sustainability. This all means that suppliers in our region have fewer opportunities to support low-impact fishing.

To tackle this, we're partnering with Hampshire Fare to champion local sustainable seafood from wave to plate. Our new joint campaign, Great Solent Seafood, aims to help us all enjoy fantastic food while reducing its impact on our waters.

Interested in other ways to care for our marine environment? This campaign is part of our marine project Secrets of the Solent, which is celebrating our seas through art, cuisine, citizen science, and more.