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Description
This project aims at influencing the consumer into valuing those less known or less regarded varieties with a safer stock situation, providing knowledge about their gastronomic potential. Simultaneously, “All Fish Are Noble” involves fishing communities, as well as scientists, NGOs and other industry players, in a constant dialogue about the impact of fishing in ocean sustainability – and the consumer’s role in its preservation.
The project includes on-site feature articles with fishing communities, educational pieces featuring chefs and news articles enhanced with the voices of the different stakeholders in the fishing industry. These contents are published in Público’s various platforms: print (in both the main section and the weekly travel and food magazine Fugas), digital (in the project’s landing page and in areas related to the topics addressed) and social media (mostly, Facebook and Instagram).
The project’s main focus branches into two target audiences: the final consumer, a Público reader, mindful of sustainability issues (both economic and environmental); and the community of chefs, natural opinion leaders on everything related to food habits.
Besides its aim to contribute to the sustainability of marine ecosystems, “All Fish Are Noble” intends to help place greater value perception upon professional activities related with the fish supply chain, from the fisherman all the way to the chef: fostering the reader’s empathy with the work involved in the different phases of the product chain, we will be giving him a better perception of value and of the need to reward all labour involved at fair value.
Summary of project results
Portugal accounts for the 3rd largest per capita fish consumption volume in the world. One of the greater treasures of the national culinary heritage is its penchant for using whatever fish species are available – a resourceful approach led by the need to make the best of what the sea provides. Around 200 fish varieties are unloaded at Portuguese ports, however the preference of consumers, in the last decades, has shifted to a much narrower selection of species – those said to be “noble”. In a certain way, the Portuguese have unlearned how to buy, cook and eat fish.
This project aimed at influencing the consumer into valuing those less-known or less-regarded varieties that have a safer stock status, while also providing knowledge about their gastronomic potential. Simultaneously, “All Fish Are Noble” involved fishing communities, scientists, NGOs and other industry players, in a wide dialogue about the impact of fishing in ocean sustainability – and the consumer’s role in its preservation. Besides its aim to contribute to the sustainability of marine ecosystems, “All Fish Are Noble” focused on creating a greater value perception upon professional activities related with the fish supply chain, from the fisherman all the way to the chef: fostering the reader’s empathy with the work involved in the different phases of the product chain, he is given a better perception of value and of the need to reward all labour involved at fair value.
This was achieved through a diverse editorial aproach – through print, digital and social media, resourcing to award[1]winning photographers, infographic designers and videographers. Throughout the series, food-specialized journalist Edgardo Pacheco visited (and learned from) 16 chefs, 11 fishing communities, 11 scientists and 11 other specialists – NGO spokespeople, dieticians, distributors, fishmongers, a wine specialist and a true master of the art of coal-roasting fish. Over 20 species of sustainable fish (and other seafood) were brought up. The series produced 46 articles, plus 9 podcast episodes and one webinar, all of them available (in Portuguese) for free, on the website publico.pt/todo-peixe-nobre.
Throughout the duration of the project, these publications were accessed 741,725 times – while also garnering the attention of social media users, which totaled 6,9 million (reach) in PÚBLICO’s social media profiles. In part thanks to its weekly magazine Fugas, PÚBLICO’s readership includes many opinion makers in the Portuguese food and restaurant scene (chefs and restaurateurs included), and those were the prime targets of this effort: by engaging them in this conversation, we can now start a serious reflection about how and what we eat. From that starting point, it is our belief that the change in the consumption pattern will branch out to the restaurant-goer – the end consumer.