Sustainable Supply Chain & Responsible Seafood Sourcing
We have a strict policy on sourcing seafood across the Rockfish group. All our fish is either MSC certified, or fish that is caught and managed in the southwest of England. We have a wide variety of species available every day, enabling us to buy from smaller boats and to help the fishermen reduce waste from species that may be less popular. Our base on the Brixham quayside means we can walk the market every morning, and that we know each and every one of the boats that we buy from. Seafood is delivered to the restaurants every day, where the Head Chefs and General Managers can be sure of the provenance of the fish, and work with their teams to communicate that to our guests. Centrally managing our own supply chain means we are working towards zero waste, both on the boats (reducing by-catch and not overfishing single species) in the way we prepare the fish (expert filleting and using smaller offcuts for children’s portions and to send to schools) and in the restaurants where Head Chefs and General Managers measure and report on wastage every week. Through our connections with Devon Environment Fund we encourage regenerative fishing and kick start local fishermen to think about how they can give back. For instance when they returning to port put out a boom to clear rubbish or instigating initiatives like seaweed farming.
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Communicating Sustainable Seafood Stories
We make a pledge to support the communication around sustainable fishing and positive progress in fishing which we do online, and in person. Our daily landings menu highlights the sustainable nature of the fish we serve, and every member of staff is trained to communicate this information to our guests, even to our youngest guests who receive an Ocean Protector Pack which encourages beach cleans and explains sustainable fishing.
We offer fish market tours to our teams as part of their learning and development where they learn about the seasonality of seafood and sustainable fishing. We also encourage members of the public to attend these tours to further their own knowledge, the proceeds from all tickets sold are given to the Fishermen’s Mission in Brixham who provide practical, financial, spiritual, and emotional care to the fishing community.
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Supporting Our Coastal Communities
Our restaurants bring people together to enjoy sustainable seafood, and seasonal produce within local coastal communities. We support an individual charity or charitable organisation in each of our restaurants and offer Rockfish as a location for charity events. The manager of each restaurant is integral to choosing the charity that we support. They identify different community groups in the area pre-opening, often with an environmental aspect to their work, and create a shortlist, which is then voted on by the team who work in the restaurant. £1 from every bill goes to support this local organisation, and we promote their work to our guests through information in the restaurants and online.
Sustainable Careers in Seafood
We are proud that at Rockfish we create careers that offer training, professional support and progression in coastal communities that can sometimes be overlooked. We are building an organisation with people who inspire and educate in their communities as part of delivering a world class restaurant experience for our guests.
Tomorrow's Fish Are Still in the Sea
We are passionate about changing the way people experience seafood in Britain through all aspects of our business. Sustainable practice at sea, needs to be supported by sustainable practices on land. We will change how people think about buying seafood as we replace the traditional fish counter with a zero-waste port to home model of sustainable consumption.
At Rockfish everything we do helps people enjoy seafood today, while simultaneously ensuring that tomorrow’s fish are still in the sea.
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