Fish served up to ministers and staff in Downing Street is set to be less sustainable than the food given to Larry the Number 10 cat, campaigners have claimed.
In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, a coalition of groups said leading pet food brands had committed to making sure the fish they used was sustainable - but that the Government's proposed fish-buying standards do not measure up.
Proposed standards for fish bought for Whitehall and government departments, as well as prisons and the armed forces, would see 60% of fish purchased with taxpayers' money meeting sustainability standards.
But campaigners want the Government, which has made a commitment to be "the greenest government ever", to ensure that 100% of the seafood it buys is sustainable, avoiding species that are endangered and sourcing fish caught in responsible way from well-managed stocks.
The letter, signed by the Marine Conservation Society, the Environmental Justice Foundation, the Shellfish Association, the Sustain alliance of food and farming organisations and the Good Food for Our Money campaign, warns the Prime Minister that the standards fail to show leadership on the issue of sustainable fish.
The groups say the Government's proposed standards fall far short of the London 2012 Olympic and food standards and are worse than seafood buying policies of businesses including Marks & Spencer and McDonald's.
And the letter says the standards would "mean that fish served to the Cabinet and staff at Number 10, will almost certainly have worse sustainability standards than the pet food served up to the PM's Larry the cat, given that - unlike the Government - leading pet food brands such as Whiskas have committed to achieving full seafood sustainability".
The Good Food for Our Money campaign, which is backed by dozens of groups including WWF-UK, the Women's Institute, Age UK and the Fairtrade Foundation, wants ministers to introduce a mandatory standard for all seafood bought by the public sector which is at least as strong as the standards for Larry's pet food.
Alex Jackson, co-ordinator of the campaign, said: "It is shameful that the Government is introducing seafood standards for some parts of the public sector which are weaker than those standards in Larry's pet food."
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokeswoman said: "We want to lead by example on eating more sustainable food, which is why we're currently establishing the first ever government buying standards for fish and other foods. We will announce the final standards later this month which will use the same definition for sustainably sourced fish as the London 2012 Olympics." Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.