Sustainable Seafood Awareness Day

GOLDEN SANDS RESORT, PENANG HOLDS SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD AWARENESS DAY

To create awareness among local hoteliers and seafood suppliers for the need to sustain our seafood supplies for the long run, Golden Sands Resort, in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia), the Penang Aquaculture Association and GST Group, held a Sustainable Seafood Awareness Day at the resort today.

The event was graced by the guest of honour, YB Tuan Law Choo Kiang, State Executive Councillor for Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, Rural Development and Flood Mitigation who delivered the keynote address.

There were also speeches by Bruno Cristol, General Manager of Golden Sands Resort, Dato’ Goh Cheng Liang, Executive Chairman of GST Group of Companies, Chairman of Penang Aquaculture Association and President of Marine Fish Farmers Association of Malaysia. WWF-Malaysia made two presentations covering the Status of Fisheries in Malaysia and Sustainable Seafood Consumption. There was also a short video presentation of the docu-movie, ‘End of the Line’.

Guests were invited for a fish tasting session comprising of fish from wild catch, fish sourced from a fish farm and fish from a hatchery to compare and taste the difference to test the guests’ palate.

‘In conjunction with World Oceans Day and Coral Triangle Day which fall on 8 June and 9 June respectively, this event is an initiative in supporting a sustainable fishing industry amongst our stakeholders. Golden Sands Resort is the first resort in Penang to initiate such an event and we hope to set a good example to other hotels to do the same,’ said Amelia Lim, the resort’s Corporate Social Responsibility Executive.

Golden Sands Resort, Penang was recently recognised by the Coral Triangle Initiative Regional Business Forum for its partnership with the Marine Fish Farmers Association of Malaysia in support of sustainable fish farming, and consumption. Whenever possible, the resort serves sustainably harvested fish. Sustainable fish farming and fishing practices allows for the consumption of fish that is not sourced through indiscriminate trawling and other destructive fishing or unsustainable fish farming methods Responsible and sustainable fishing methods include well-managed hook and line, gill-nets and traps while sustainable fish farming refers to fish farms which embrace best management practices in their operations.

The support from Golden Sands Resort, Penang is a crucial boost for the local sustainable fishing and fish farming industry. This will encourage the long-term management of natural resources in a sustainable manner. Gradually, the resort hopes to obtain its entire seafood supply from sustainably harvested sources.

In line with the sustainable and environmentally friendly path that the resort is heading for, the resort is also offering a Sustainable Seafood Buffet which features two species of fish from the green list of WWF-Malaysia’s Save Our Seafood (SOS) guide.

The Sustainable Seafood Buffet is available every Saturday from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Garden Caf¨. Prices are MYR99++ for adults, MYR49.50++ for teenagers and MYR29++ for children aged six to twelve years old. For more information on the WWF-Malaysia’s SOS guide, please visit: www.saveourseafood.my.

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently owns and/or manages 72 hotels under the Shangri-La, Kerry and Traders brands with a room inventory of over 30,000. Shangri-La hotels are five-star deluxe properties featuring extensive luxury facilities and services. Shangri-La hotels are located in Australia, Canada, mainland China, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Singapore, Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The group has a substantial development pipeline with upcoming projects in Canada, mainland China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Turkey and United Kingdom. For more information and reservations, please contact a travel professional or access the website at www.shangri-la.com.