VeriFish’s photo challenge highlights how European perceive seafood in everyday life
This article was featured in Eurofish Magazine 4 2025.
As part of its ongoing efforts to improve communication around sustainable seafood, the Horizon Europe-funded VeriFish project launched a pan-European photo challenge designed to raise awareness and promote public engagement.
The initiative, coordinated by Eurofish under Subtask 3.4.5, invited individuals from across Europe to submit photographs that visually express the principles of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. With categories spanning environmental sustainability, nutrition and health, and socio-economic impact, the challenge aimed to bridge scientific, policy, and consumer audiences by translating technical themes into personal and visual narratives. The contest ran from February to the end of May 2025 and was promoted across LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Bluesky in nine languages. Participants were asked to submit one original photo accompanied by a short caption of 50 to 150 words that connected the image to one of the three -sustainability pillars defined by the VeriFish project. The challenge was open to all, regardless of background, and the wide range of entries received reflected the diversity of perspectives and -geographies that characterise Europe’s seafood landscape. Submissions came from professionals in the fisheries sector, students, and members of the general public.
A distinguished panel of judges—composed of experts from FAO, ICES, EATIP, GDST, MAC, CNR, and API—evaluated the entries according to criteria such as thematic relevance, photographic quality, and storytelling impact. The winning submissions are a testament to the power of visual communication to engage audiences on complex sustainability topics.
Lorenzo Ragazzi, from Olbia, Italy, was selected as the overall winner of the challenge, and also took first place in the Environmental Sustainability category. His photograph, captured by drone over aquaculture cages off the coast of Sardinia, depicts a bottlenose dolphin swimming beside a sea bream enclosure. The image underscores the harmony that can be achieved between marine life and aquaculture when practices are designed with environmental stewardship in mind. According to Mr Ragazzi, sea bream -aquaculture here supports sustainable seafood production, reducing pressure on wild fish stocks while preserving water quality and promoting responsible environmental practices in the Mediterranean.
Ingeborg Korme’s photo of a local fisher in Ganvié, Benin took home the prize
in the Socio-Economic Sustainability category.
In the Socio-Economic Sustainability category, Ingeborg Korme of -Brussels, Belgium, was awarded first place for her photo taken in Lake -Nokoué, Benin. The image features a local fisher inspecting nets near the stilt village of Ganvié, highlighting traditional practices that ensure food security in the absence of refrigeration infrastructure. Ms Korme noted that keeping fish in submerged cages allows communities to ensure fresh supply and sustain livelihoods. Her submission effectively illustrates the interplay between resource -management and community resilience in low-income settings.
The Nutrition and Health category was won by Alexandra Denisa -Szabo, based in Italy, who combined her photograph of grilled fish with a poetic caption describing seafood’s contribution to health and well-being. Her concise message—“Fish that helps our hearts and minds rise”—emphasises the- -nutritional value of seafood and the role it plays in sustainable diets. Ms Szabo discovered the challenge via LinkedIn and praised the opportunity it offered to connect food culture with sustainability values.
The Photo Challenge represents just one component of VeriFish’s broader social media and storytelling strategy, which also includes influencer-led campaigns and a series of -thematic storytelling sessions. These initiatives aim to create accessible entry points into the project’s more technical workstreams, including the development of sustainability indicators and consumer engagement tools. Selected entries from the photo challenge will be -exhibited at the upcoming VeriFish Conference and published in future editions of Eurofish Magazine, providing further visibility to the winning participants and their messages.
By turning the lens toward local practices, marine environments, and community narratives, the VeriFish Photo Challenge has demonstrated that meaningful sustainability -communication can—and should—begin with a simple image and a story well told.