Marine Stewardship
Council.

Recipe films, documentary, TV advertising and national campaigns. Working together since 2021.

Client: MSC UK
Sector: Food & Drink
Services: Documentary & Campaigns
Partnership: Ongoing since 2021

— The relationship

From Newlyn Harbour to Shetland.

The Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit working to end overfishing.

Their blue fish tick label appears on certified sustainable seafood products across UK supermarket shelves, restaurants and fishmongers: a simple way for people to know the fish they’re buying comes from a well-managed, sustainable source.

We first worked with MSC in 2021, shooting recipe content with James Strawbridge around Newlyn Harbour in Cornwall for their annual Sustainable Seafood September campaign. It was a relatively small brief: a series of recipe films featuring locally caught, MSC-certified ingredients, cooked and served in the places where they were landed.

That first project set the tone for everything that followed. Within a year, MSC invited us to Shetland for the most ambitious shoot we’ve ever been part of. Since then we’ve produced documentary content, a TV ad, an awards ceremony film and a national billboard and digital campaign. An ongoing body of sustainable seafood video and campaign work, each chapter building on the last.

The Shetland coast during the Marine Stewardship Council documentary production — Shetland · All Hands on Deck · 2022

— All Hands on Deck

Ten days in Shetland. A story with national reach.

In 2022, MSC asked us to spend ten days in Shetland for their most ambitious sustainability video production to date. A full digital series and their first ever TV advertisement.

The TV ad would promote the MSC blue fish tick. Alongside it, we’d produce a documentary series following the fishing communities who make that certification possible, plus recipe content with James Strawbridge cooking with the ingredients Shetland is famous for.

Shetland is a remarkable place to work. Remote, exposed and stunningly beautiful. The light changes constantly. The landscape feels like it could be anywhere in the North Atlantic, and then you turn a corner and find a harbour full of working boats and a community that’s been fishing these waters for generations.

What made the content special was the people. We spent time with scallop fishermen, crab fishermen, marine scientists and harbour communities who opened their doors and their boats to us. George Andrew Williamson, a scallop fisherman on Whalsay Island, was one of many contributors who brought the story to life: genuine, warm and passionate about what sustainable fishing means for Shetland’s future.

James cooked throughout: scallop skewers with chicken butter, a smoky brown crab stew in the harbour, apple-smoked scallops with Scalloway haggis, and a sustainable seafood feast at Busta House Hotel to thank everyone who’d been part of the journey.

Dr Beth Mouat from the Shetland UHI explained the science behind fisheries management, connecting the day-to-day work of the fishermen to the bigger picture of ocean conservation.

Ten days, multiple content strands, a TV ad and a documentary series. It remains one of the most rewarding projects we’ve been part of.

Ten days around Shetland

12 photographs · Open the album

— Sustainable Seafood Suppers

Cooked where it was caught.

Join MSC UK Ambassador James Strawbridge in West Burrafirth, Shetland, where he cooks a warming smoky brown crab stew in the harbour — on a rainy day no less.

On Whalsay Island, he smokes fresh scallops over apple wood and serves them with local Scalloway haggis, seaweed butter and curds. Two recipes rooted entirely in their place.

Two suppers from the islands

2 films · Choose one to watch

Films from the shoot

2 films · Choose one to watch

— The science behind the label

Protecting the ocean starts with understanding it.

Dr Beth Mouat, Joint Head of Marine Sciences and Technology at Shetland UHI, explains how research is fundamental to sustainable fishing and is helping Shetland’s MSC-certified scallop and brown crab fishery reduce its impact on the ocean.

— From boat to plate

Useful films, made with the people who know.

Shorter films gave the campaign a practical life beyond the main documentary: recipes for the fishermen and straightforward guides for anyone preparing seafood at home.

Skipper Sandwiches

2 films · Crab & scallops

Films from the shoot

2 films · Choose one to watch

Coronation crab · James meets sustainable crab fishermen Francis, Norman and Calum Fraser in West Burrafirth and makes them lunch after a hard day at sea.

Cured scallops · On Whalsay Island, George Andrew Williamson gets a skipper sandwich made with the scallops he knows better than anyone.

Preparing the catch

2 practical guides

Films from the shoot

2 films · Choose one to watch

How to prepare brown crab · A practical guide with Shetland fisherman Francis Fraser and James Strawbridge.

How to prepare scallops · George Andrew Williamson shows James how the catch is opened and prepared.

— MSC UK Awards · 2023

The people behind ten years of work.

For the 10th anniversary of the MSC UK Awards, we produced the film that opened the evening at Fishmongers’ Hall in London.

The production took us from Newlyn to Brixham to London, interviewing past award winners about what sustainable fishing means to them and how the industry has changed over the decade. Each conversation brought a different perspective: fishermen, suppliers, retailers and scientists, all connected by a shared commitment to protecting what’s in our seas.

Watching the film play to a room full of industry leaders and partners was a rare experience for us. Seeing the reaction and hearing the room respond to the stories we’d captured stays with you. It was a brilliant evening celebrating the work that so many people put into protecting our oceans, and we were proud to have our film at the heart of it.