The Cayman Sea Sense project is a sustainable seafood education program based on the efforts of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program and the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sustainable Seafood Initiative. This project is dedicated to helping restaurants and their customers make informed and ecologically positive seafood choices. The project will assist local chefs and restaurant owners reduce the number of non-sustainable seafood items on their menus.
According to the United Nations, more than two-thirds of global fisheries have been fully exploited or overfished, and catches are declining. Overfishing means catching fish faster than they can reproduce. Billions of pounds of fish each year are wasted as unwanted bycatch, and hundreds of thousands of seabirds, marine mammals, sea turtles and other marine life are also killed through destructive fishing practices. Fishing methods, practiced with either wild or farmed stocks, may also harm marine habitat. Heavy trawl nets dragged behind fishing boats bulldoze the ocean floor, crushing and destroying sea life in their path. Some fish farms, discharging pollution into surrounding waters, require more wild fish to be used as feed and may replace vital fish shelter and breeding grounds.
Sustainable seafood is defined as:
- A species that is well managed with a comprehensive management plan based on current research
- A species that is harvested in a method that ensures limited bycatch on non-target and endangered species
- A species that has a method of catch which ensures there is limited habitat loss associated with the harvesting method (From Vancouver Ocean Wise website).
- A species that is abundant and resilient to fishing pressures
- A species that is well managed with a comprehensive management plan based on current research
The Cayman Sea Sense project will work with local restaurants to assist them in identifying sustainable seafood options for their menus. At these restaurants, consumers can choose seafood menu items which have the Cayman Sea Sense icon beside them.
Partnerships:
A Cayman Sea Sense Team will be created from the following organizations to implement the goals of this project:
- National Trust for the Cayman Islands
- Department of Environment Boatswain’s Beach Cayman Islands Tourism Association
- Partnering Restaurants and Chefs Distributors
- InternationalSupporters
- VancouverAquariumOcean Wise Program
- South Carolina Sustainable Seafood Initiative
For more information on this exciting and worthwhile initiative contact
