ATTEMPTS to get people to stop eating a particular food change their behaviour for environmental reasons is often met with tacit agreement but not much action.
Now, Singaporeans are being asked to think before they pick the type of fish they eat.
The push is being led by the conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which said on Friday it will embark on a two-year effort to convince Singaporeans of the need to think more carefully about the species of fish they consume.
The WWF says it is taking a look at which are the popular fish eaten in Singapore and looking for alternatives to threatened species.
Most at risk here are the grouper and the Napolean wrasse which are inhabitants of an area known as the Coral Triangle, which spans the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Making action more imperative is the special significance of Coral triangle in wildlife conservation.
Six of the world’s seven sea turtle species make this place their home. It’s also the habitat for four species of tuna, including the bluefin variety, popular as Japanese sashimi and skipjack tuna, commonly made into canned tuna.
The Coral Triangle is also said to have the world’s most abundant variety of corals and sea life, with more than 500 species of corals which means any imbalance in predatorial fish there could have disastrous effects.
Which is why the WWF hopes to preserve the area and the sealife there for as long as possible and it seesone way of doing it is to reduce consumer demand for the endangered species.
Already, the WWF has had some success by making inroads in educating consumers in cities such as Hong Kong, which is the region’s number one consumer of endangered fish which live among coral reefs.
According to the WWF, some 50 corporations there have already agreed to withdraw such endangered fish from their menu for their corporate banquets.
And one hotel chain in Indonesia will take one such species off its menu every month.
It has also produced two seafood guides on commonly eaten seafood in these places. They are grouped according to whether the fish and other seafood are endangered or if they are in abundant supply.
Now, the WWF wants to do the same for Singapore.
The way the guide works is by having three colour-coded categories: the green-coloured "recommended" group for seafood still in abundant supply; the "think twice" category, coloured yellow, for those whose survival might be threatened if current fishing methods continue and the "avoid" category, red in colour, for seafood which have been overexploited.
It is looking to Singaporean consumers to take this guide along when they eat out and to think before they pick from the fish on the menu.