A trip to your favourite seafood restaurant normally ends with a satisfied appetite and a weighty bill, but for all you know that succulent sole you've just enjoyed could very well be on the endangered species list.

SASSI, or The Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative, was formed in November 2004 to inform and educate all in the seafood trade - from the local snoek hawker to the seafood lover - to be aware of the conservation issues around fishing for food.

Their key initiative is a seafood pocket guide that can be downloaded from their website, which uses a colour coding system (green, yellow, red) to rate the relative vulnerability of different fish species you may encounter in your supermarket or on the restaurant menu.

The aim is to educate consumers, those in the restaurant trade, and fishermen themselves, about what fish species are endangered, with the hope that they will avoid using them. In so doing SASSI hopes to cultivate a culture of awareness that will eventually ease the pressure on vulnerable fish populations.

Raising awareness through training, advertising

The programme has the full weight of the WWF-SA (with Green Trust funding) behind it, along with the support of the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and a number of other implementing partners. But with all this heavy artillery on its side, how does a never-heard-of-before initiative encourage SA's seafood-hungry population (and its tourists) to sit up and take note of its cause?

Over the next three years, SASSI plans to establish a training network for seafood restaurants and retailers in major urban areas, and launch an advertising campaign to inform consumers of other sustainable options available to them on the seafood market.

Project champion and celebrity food critic Justine Drake has put her weight behind the initiative.

"It's a personal concern over the state of our seafood," she says. "All the youth of today have never eaten perlermoen or crinckles, and soon they won?t even know what Kabeljou is."

THE RATING SYSTEM
To help consumers make better choices, SASSI has compiled a species list to inform you of the conservation status of popular fish.

Green
Healthy, well-managed stocks that can sustain current fishing pressure.

Examples: anchovy, angelfish, butterfish, hake, Jacopever, snoek and tuna.

Orange
Fish that may be legally sold by registered commercial fishers and retailers, but an increased demand could compromise its supply.

Examples: abalone, Bluefin tuna, kingklip, prawns and langoustines.

Red
Illegal to buy or sell in South Africa.

Examples: musselcracker, white steenbras and galjoen.

Targetting restaurants

Jaco Barendse, the national co-ordinator of SASSI, says that even now with the major campaigns not properly off the ground yet, informed restaurant patrons are refusing to order seafood on the protected species list.

"In Cape Town there was an example in January 2005 where a restaurant in Simon?s Town offered 'spotted gulley shark' for sale," he says. "This is a no-sale red species, and thus is illegal to offer for sale."

"A consumer phoned up the fisheries inspectors and the restaurant?s entire stock was confiscated. It turned out to be a case of wrong labelling, yet it was damaging publicity to the restaurant."

The occurrence is not an isolated one - Jaco adds that internationally, with similar projects, consumers were able to "force" restaurants to stop selling certain species due to environmental concerns.

Still, there are still restaurants in South Africa, he says, who offer species on the Red list.

The rise of sushi

Recently sushi restaurants have become the choice of health-conscious consumers and those who like their food a little on the exotic side, but though this phenomenon could undo any real work that SASSI has carried out, Jaco thinks it could actually work in its favour.

"The increase of sushi restaurants and seafood consumption in general indicates that there is a real need for more information about seafood," he says.

"The preparation of sushi and sashimi places great importance on the quality of the products used, rather than the quantity, which is not a bad thing.?

Sushi restaurants could be the least of problems now, with some eateries placing emphasis on their "linefish" menu items. This group item is the most commonly ordered item on the menu, and usually includes options that are most probably considered endangered.

All about education

Jaco has initiated a course for chefs and restaurant seafood buyers, using them as the medium to educate their clientele.

"I think it is their duty to be able to provide consumers with more and accurate information," he says.

"Just as some people would want to know more about meat that they order (free-range, grain fed), or the cultivar of grapes used to make a certain wine, they are also entitled to get more information about seafood (what is it, where is it from, how is it caught?)"

Justine agrees: "If consumers know that they shouldn?t be ordering Cape salmon or snapper, things may change. The message has to come from us and the press so that everyday consumers are going to know about it ? you've got to be more aware."

Useful info:

> Download the consumer's seafood pocket guide
> Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative
> SASSI training partners (Two Oceans Aquarium, Ezemvelo-KZN Wildlife and uShaka Sea World) will be offering a one-day course at all chefs and seafood buyers in the Cape Town and the KZN area. Email Jaco for more info on the course.