A MUSWELL Hill restaurateur has joined an initiative to widen the palettes if his customers and do his bit for the environment. George Georgiou, owner of Toff s Fish and Chips in Muswell Hill Broadway, has joined the Good Catch initiative, which aims to h

A MUSWELL Hill restaurateur has joined an initiative to widen the palettes if his customers and do his bit for the environment.

George Georgiou, owner of Toff's Fish and Chips in Muswell Hill Broadway, has joined the Good Catch initiative, which aims to help businesses improve the sustainability of the seafood they buy, serve and promote.

The initiative, a collaboration between four environmental NGOs, including the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), gives businesses a number of tips on how to be more sustainable.

Emily Howgate, UK programme co-ordinator at the Seafood Choices Alliance, part of the collaboration, said: "The concept of the initiative is to make it easier for restaurateurs to navigate sustainable food issues.

"Chefs and restaurateurs are key to influencing wider customer decisions on issues of sustainability and can inspire further interest.

"They have a general responsibly not only to take care of the earth and ocean but it makes businesses sense too.

"These businesses rely on natural recourses and so it's important for them to have a healthy supply of seafood."

The Good Catch initiative, promoted by celebrity chef Raymond Blanc, encourages businesses to offer different seafood species which usually go to waste and offer seasonal species which allows species to breed and replenish during off-peak seasons.

"It's our contribution towards preserving the see life stock," Mr Georgiou said.

"If we don't do something, one day all out environment and sea life will die because some fishing practices are so bad and are ruining the sea beds."

Mr Georgiou added that joining the initiative makes his business more environmentally aware and introduces new tastes and options for his customers.

"There are thousands of fish species and they are readily available and plentiful," he said.

"The other species taste as good as other fish but just aren't as well known.

"When Gordon Ramsay used pollock on one of his television shows, the sales have now gone through the roof.

"This is one step towards a whole environmental re-think. We recycle oil, polystyrene and cans and there is a lot more than can be done.

"This initiative has definitely made us more conscientious.