SASSI nets major greening award
WWF´s Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) has scooped a Mail & Guardian Greening the Future award in the hotly contested category "Environmental best practice in not-for-profit organisations." SASSI aims to alert consumers, restauranteurs, wholesalers and fishers about the threats to marine resources.
The award´s citation reads: "The Greening the Future judges loved this initiative, praising its innovation and reach among consumers. They commended the partnerships it formed with a wide range of interest groups to achieve its objectives.
"Issues about food and resources are critically important at the moment. This project has huge potential to be used as a benchmark for other sectors in the retail industry," the judges commented.
Timony Siebert, SASSI´s national coordinator says, "We´re delighted at this award, especially because it´s likely to promote our efforts to encourage sustainable use of natural resources."
Singled out for accolades was the Sassi FishMS service, which enables cellphone users to instantly check the conservation status of a specific fish species.
Other materials available include a wallet card, a pamphlet and a website, all of which uses scientific research on the status of fisheries distilled into colour-coded material and layman´s language.
Species with healthy population numbers are placed on a green list and can be eaten with gusto. Orange means they are legal to sell, but if there is a choice you should opt for one of the green-coded species.
Species marked in red are illegal to buy or sell.
Since its launch in November 2006, the FishMS service has received more than 40 000 requests for information and has built up a user base of more than 10 000 people. About one million wallet cards have been distributed.