Stonehaven chippy first to sell MSC certified Scottish haddock

The Bay in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, is the first UK fish and chip shop to offer its customers MSC certified sustainable Scottish haddock.

Although other fish and chips shops have started offering MSC certified South Africa hake, The Bay is the first to use the recently certified Scottish haddock. The new addition is easily identified on the shop’s menus by the blue MSC ecolabel.

“When the Scottish haddock won its MSC certificate, I knew that we had to have certified sustainable haddock on our menus,” says owner Calum Richardson.

“Customers want to know where their fish is from and it’s one thing saying what we do, but it’s another thing proving it. I wanted the logo next to my fish supper so that I could show our customers the haddock we sell is fully traceable from sea to plate and from sustainable and well managed grounds. It’s also peace of mind for us that we are selling the right product.”

In order to sell MSC haddock, The Bay had to undergo a chain of custody audit, something that Calum applied for online and received within seven days.

Hannah Arcaro, UK foodservice manager for the MSC, added: “Calum and The Bay are an inspiration for the industry. By getting MSC certified online – and in record time – they have shown that you can put certified sustainable haddock and chips on the menu with locally-sourced, certified sustainable fish.”

The Bay is currently serving up 2,000 portions of MSC certified haddock a week. With demand expected to increase, forward-thinking Calum has had his supplier blast freeze some fresh MSC haddock, which will enable The Bay to continue serving it should it be unavailable for any length of time.

The Bay is hoping to add MSC certified scampi to the menu within the next month or two.

You can catch Calum and The Bay in Phil Vickery’s Coastal Cuisine, which airs on ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday 22nd March.