This excerpt is from an opinion piece in the Toronto Star. Kurtis Hayne is the Canada program director for the Marine Stewardship Council. Read the full piece here.
Blue foods — food derived from aquatic animals, plants or algae — are finally starting to get the attention they deserve as a healthy source of protein that offers a win-win for people and planet. Harnessing their full potential, however, depends on sustainable management and urgent action from government, fisheries, industry and even consumers if their benefits are to be reaped for this and future generations.
Last month, the United Nations made foods from the water one of the key pillars at the Food Systems Summit in New York City. And the newly launched Blue Food Assessment (BFA) published one of the most comprehensive reviews to date on the huge potential blue foods have to address the combined challenges of hunger, climate change and sustainable development.
Ultimately, for sustainability to become reality it must take into consideration the triple bottom line: people, planet and prosperity. For government and industry to act more decisively on ocean issues, they also need to know that consumers and voters are ready and willing to act on sustainability as core to their values.