In February 2024, the Mr.Goodfish3.0 consortium conducted a series of local/regional co-creation workshops across its pilot sites in Cyprus, France, and Norway, under the leadership of our partner Three o’clock. These workshops brought together key stakeholders from the seafood and aquaculture value chains to identify challenges and opportunities in fostering responsible aquatic product consumption. This has been a valuable moment for us to involve all relevant actors in seafood and aquaculture value chains to co-create new processes, services and solutions to foster responsible seafood production and consumption.

The workshops aimed to:

  • Map gaps in the seafood and aquaculture value chains
  • Prioritize key issues related to sustainability
  • Brainstorm strategies and key messages to promote responsible seafood consumption
  • Contribute to the upgrade of the Mr.Goodfish app, an innovative tool supporting producers, retailers, and consumers in making sustainable seafood choices

Insights from our pilot sites

The workshops, all coordinated with the support of Three O’clock, also identified distinct challenges and opportunities in each project’s pilot site in terms of practice, policy and education, highlighting common points and issues we need to address and be aware of:

Cyprus (Mediterranean Sea Pilot Site led by Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute)

  •  Practice: Limited direct fish sales, declining fish stocks, and high preparation costs for invasive species hinder responsible fishing.
  • Policy: A need for enhanced monitoring of recreational fishing, support for direct sales models, and awareness campaigns.
  • Education: Consumers require better knowledge of responsible seafood choices, seasonal availability, and nutrition.

France (Atlantic Ocean, North Sea & Channel Pilot Site led by Nausicaá Centre National De La Mer)

  • Practice: Encouraging local seafood consumption through better traceability, cooking guides, and logistical support for sustainability.
  • Policy: Strengthening food traceability, sustainability standards, and supporting small businesses in adopting innovative fishing technologies.
  • Education: Enhancing food literacy through school programs, public awareness campaigns, and digital tools.

Norway (Arctic Ocean Pilot Site led by Nordnorsk Vitensenter)

  • Practice: Supporting cost-effective sustainable fishing technologies, reducing waste, and increasing seafood diversity in markets and restaurants.
  • Policy: Strengthening resource management, improving traceability, and addressing environmental concerns in salmon farming.
  • Education: Raising consumer awareness of responsible seafood, integrating education into culinary training, and leveraging social media influencers.

Common Challenges Across Regions

Despite regional variations, several common themes emerged, highlighting the interconnectedness of seafood actors, where everyone plays a vital role in ensuring responsible fishing, production and consumption of aquatic products. The common issues among our three pilot sites include:

  • Limited industry participation and stakeholder fragmentation: Small-scale fishers face market challenges, industry engagement is lacking, and communication barriers persist.
  • Sustainability challenges in fisheries and governance: Policies can sometimes hinder sustainable practices, while climate change and regulatory inconsistencies create additional difficulties.
  • Circular economy and resource utilization gaps: Bycatch remains undervalued, and there is a lack of infrastructure for processing invasive species.
  • Traceability and transparency issues: Fragmented traceability systems undermine consumer trust in sustainability claims.
  • Consumer awareness and behavior change: Misinformation or lack of information on responsible seafood options hinders conscious consumption.
  • Regulatory and economic constraints: Economic viability challenges, the impact of Brexit, and permitting difficulties pose obstacles to responsible aquaculture.

What’s next?

The findings from these workshops will first of all be useful for the development of the upgraded Mr.Goodfish app, which aims to facilitate sustainable choices for producers, retailers, and consumers, and the Mr.Goodfish3.0 serious game. Additionally, these insights will contribute to further stakeholder engagement and shape our awareness-raising campaign.

A second and third round of workshops will be held this year, where we expect to enrich our understanding of the local context for responsible seafood production and consumption, and to co-creation local solutions with all people involved.

In the meantime, Mr.Goodfish3.0 continues to foster collaboration across the seafood industry in Europe to develop localized and scalable solutions that promote sustainability and responsible consumption.

Stay tuned for further developments and implementation strategies. This is just the beginning of a long journey and we look forward to seeing what’s ahead of us.

Follow us and don’t miss the latest updates!