In an age of climate emergency, all policy is climate policy — so the climate impacts of our food should be made obvious to customers. But as long as there is a gap between how people think about their values and how they actually act in the shop, even the most ambitious eco-label can’t substitute for government action. 

If you ask people about our impact on the ocean, the answer is consistent and clear: damaging human impacts like overfishing must be stopped. And the ​‘Blue Planet effect’ has only solidified this view. Now, if you change the question from ​‘fishing’ to ​‘seafood’ people’s ambition is tempered — and that is precisely the point. We say that sustainability matters to us when fish are in the sea, but it’s a different thing entirely when fish are on the menu. When it comes to seafood, there are some clear and surprising examples of how what we say and what we do don’t match up.