News
Seafood app wins gold award
Good Fish Guide App that helps makes sustainable fish choices simple gets design award
The Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) Good Fish Guide app is a 2016 Gold winner in the prestigious London Design Awards, which recognise creativity and leading design across a range of categories.
The Good Fish Guide app aims to help consumers make environmentally sound seafood choices by listing fish alongside their MCS Fish to Eat or Fish to Avoid rating – red, green or amber (eat only occasionally).
With funding from the UK’s largest food and support services firm, Compass Group UK and Ireland, MCS worked with Brighton-based Brightec, a mobile app development company to build a version of their web based and paper pocket guide.
The brief was to create an App that would help customers make informed decisions when choosing fish at a restaurant, or at the fish counter in the local supermarket. The App would need to interact with a large and complex dataset but still look like a simple, user-friendly, ethical ‘pocket guide’ consumer app.
Andy Ferrett, Managing Director of Brightec, said: “It is always our pleasure to work with value driven organisations such as the Marine Conservation Society. We believe the ‘Good Fish Guide’ app is not just an excellent iOS & Android app but also an important tool in the fight for sustainability.”
Richard Harrington, MCS Head of Communications said: “There’s so much to choosing sustainable fish than just ratings. The Brightec-produced App boasts regular contributions of new seafood recipes from top chefs and celebrities which are displayed so the fish chosen are always in season and rated 1-3. There’s also a size guide to help people spot immature fish that are being sold before they’ve had a chance to breed. And information on labelling will help you identify the best eco-labels for fish and the information retailers and fishmongers need to be supplying to allow consumers to make informed choices. We’re delighted how the app looks and are thrilled that as developers, Brightec have been recognised.”
The App uses a simple traffic light system providing users with an at-a-glance guide to which fish species are at risk and should be avoided – based on present fish sustainability. Diners can also find restaurants that claim to have great sustainable credentials on an easy to use map where MCS reveals what they think about the eatery’s sustainability along with a rating from Fish2fork, the sustainable seafood restaurant ratings website.
Duncan Gray, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “When it comes to seafood we know that a great dish must be both delicious and sustainable. We promise not to serve fish from the MSC fish to avoid list and buy more sustainable seafood every year. Funding this app will help keep consumers informed about how to eat great seafood ethically and we’re delighted to have been able to help support it.”
MCS sustainable seafood work is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Clara Govier, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said “It is great to see a whole range of new resources giving people the power to make their own choices on which seafood to eat. The Good Fish Guide App is really exciting, giving instant advice on what to eat and how to cook it, whether you’re shopping for the family in the supermarket or looking for a place to eat out. I’m delighted that players of People’s Postcode Lottery are able to support this initiative.”
The app has received praise from all quarters, including the influential Creative Review.
The Good Fish Guide App is free on both iphone and android at www.goodfishguide.org.
Find out more about the Marine Conservation Society at www.mcsuk.org.
After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.
People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.
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- Bigeye Thresher Shark by Janina Rossiter
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- Carcharodon carcharias by Jimmy Higgs
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- Croc VR 2030 by Tom Mead
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- Oceanic Whitetip by ATM
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- Silky Street by ScapaJoe
The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.
One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.
Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:
https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24
Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.
Find out more here:
https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31
Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”
Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden
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