Get hooked on...

Fish

The Good Food Awards celebrates the sustainable food movement at sea with our preserved fish category. Now the catch from our oceans, lakes, rivers and streams has a platform all its own, with help from Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® and Fish Revolution. To honor the work of chefs experimenting in these waters, we welcome restaurants with in-house curing, smoking and preserving programs to submit their entries. From salmon rillettes to jarred oysters and trout roe, we’re proud to cast our net wider into the responsible fishing community.

About

The Good Food Awards rely on the expertise of the fish community to create the tasting, determine judges and set standards for the category. Read on to learn who has been integral to building the category, as well as what the fish standard are and who will be judging this year.

Committee

Chair

Kelly Collins Geiser
Resource Specialist at San Jose Middle School / Slow Fish North America Oversight Committee Advisor

Kelly has served on Slow Fish North America’s oversight committee since 2016, actively supporting the organization’s mission to strengthen local fisherfolk, regional seafood systems, and values-based seafood practices. As a chef, culinary teacher, and now full-time Resource Specialist Teacher at San Jose Middle School in Novato, California, she brings her passion for education and community to her role chairing the Good Food Awards fish category.

2026 Judges

Christina Skonberg

Head of Sustainability, Simple Mills

John Fink

Owner, The Whole Beast

YuYu Schatz

Designer, Stripe

Jayne Reichert

Self Employed, Private Chef/Culinary Educator

Standards

In order to be eligible for a Good Food Award, preserved fish entries must meet the following standards:

  • Caught or farmed in US waters.*
  • Processed and handcrafted in the USA or US territories.
  • Free of artificial ingredients, including colors, flavors and preservatives.
  • All ingredients, animal or otherwise, must be sustainably sourced, traceable, non- GMO, and wherever possible grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers.**
  • Caught or farmed with respect and fair compensation for everyone working on the vessel, farm and in the kitchen.
  • Made with fish or shellfish or seaweed from well-managed, environmentally responsible fisheries and farms. Farmed finfish must be from land-based facilities, and fed a non-GMO diet free of animal by-products.
  • All wild caught or farmed fish must be rated “Best Choice” or “Good Alternative” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch®.***
  • Swordfish must be caught in US waters using harpoons, handlines or deep-set buoy gear only.
  • Made by a crafter that is an upstanding member of the Good Food community, committed to equity and inclusion in all levels of their business, as exemplified through integrating these practices:
    • Creating a safe and healthy work environment where employees receive a fair wage, are safe and respected at work and have access to the resources they need to keep themselves healthy.
    • Offering a diversity, equity, and inclusion training to staff members and/or leadership annually.
    • Thoughtfully acknowledging the heritage of culturally-specific food on websites, packaging and/or marketing materials.
    • If your company is Publicly-held, Owned/Partially-owned by publicly-held compan(y)ies, or has over $100 million in annual revenue, your company, as well as its parent company(ies), are required to meet additional criteria to become Good Food Qualified:
      • Offer a minimum of 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all employees
      • Have at least one woman, minority, or LGBTQIA+ representative on their Board of Directors
      • Have a proven track record of prioritizing a safe and fairly-compensated work culture, with no violations in the area of wage or workplace safety in the past 5 years. This will be verified on the Good Jobs First Violation Tracker

    In addition, all seaweed entries must be harvested or farmed in compliance with the following standards:

    • Ensures purchase of seaweed from farmer prior to harvest.
    • Post-harvest processing of seaweed is done within 24 hours, or 1 week if refrigerated, to maintain product quality.
    • With an emphasis on encouraging the symbiotic relationships of species.
    • In a way that sustains regenerative life cycles, with thought for the specific needs of different species to ensure the success of future harvests.
    • With an emphasis on maintaining a safe distance from hazardous waste streams and tidal currents.

    Many thanks to our friends at Monterey Bay Seafood Watch® and Fish Revolution for their assistance in developing our criteria.

Subcategories

Additionally, fish entries must fit within one of the following subcategories (vegetarian and/or vegan substitutes are permitted):

  • Seaweed (e.g. Nori Crisps, Kelp Noodles, Furikake)
  • Smoked Seafood & Gravlax
  • Pates & Rilletes
  • Roe, Ikura & Caviar
  • Pickled
  • Salt-Preserved
  • Water- and oil-packed

View the 2024 Fish Winners