A NEWLY established maritime division at a North Yorkshire marketing agency has been shortlisted for an international award in recognition of a campaign that has helped challenge perceptions of the European fishing industry.

Acceleris, which has offices in Harrogate and London, has been nominated in the Issues & Reputation Management category of the European Excellence Awards for its campaign on behalf of Europêche, the industry trade body representing 80,000 fishermen across nine EU countries.

Appointed by Europêche in late 2014, Acceleris worked to devise an integrated PR and digital media campaign to combat misconceptions about the €7 billion industry across Europe.

As part of its work Acceleris commissioned the first pan-European survey into attitudes around the industry and developed iFish, a consumer facing portal designed to counter misinformation, address the growing appetite for information on the industry, and create a unified voice for European fishermen.

The campaign secured almost 200 pieces of pan-European media coverage, reaching an audience of 140 million and engagement from the EU Commission, as well as a number of retailers.

Acceleris is short listed alongside corporate giants including BP, Unilever and BASF. It is the second time the agency has featured in the awards, having won the Issues & Reputation Management category in 2014.

Louise Vaughan, managing director of Acceleris said: "To be shortlisted alongside such global giants is testimony to the strength, creativity and professionalism of the team and our ability to take complex industry issues and give them real mainstream interest and appeal."

The awards ceremony will be held on December 10 in Stockholm, Sweden.