As a SASSI participant, we are committed to helping conserve South Africa’s unique marine ecosystems. Being a participant means that we endeavour to promote sustainable seafood choices and to provide our customers with information about the conservation status of the seafood species we offer in our restaurant.
The Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI) was initiated in November 2004 in order to inform and educate all participants in the seafood trade, from wholesalers to restaurateurs through to seafood lovers. The initiative builds on an earlier project started in the KwaZulu-Natal Province which sought to educate restaurant dealers about the Marine Living Resources Act and other marine conservation issues.
SASSI has three primary objectives:
- Promote voluntary compliance of the law through education and awareness
- Shift consumer demand away from over-exploited species to more sustainable options
- Create awareness around marine conservation issues
In the past few years, a new conservation buzz-word has entered the seafood scene: Sustainability. But what does sustainable seafood really mean? Given the popularity of seafood and the serious environmental concerns surrounding many seafood sources, as well as the abundance of illegally caught and traded seafood on the global markets, governmental and conservation agencies are increasingly concerned about the lack of information available to consumers.