'Sustainable fishing' is the latest food-world issue, but what does it mean for the average shopper? By Charlie Cottrell
In recent years the health benefits of fish have been praised by health officials and nutritionists alike. The relatively low fat content of white fish and the high omega 3 content of oily fish have raised the health status of fish, crediting a fish rich diet with benefits as diverse as the ability to lower blood pressure and repair damaged arteries, to reducing instances of heart attacks.
For many of us cod and haddock are our tried and trusted fish of choice, but too much dependence on these popular white fish has led to serial overfishing. Over the last few years reserves of both fish have been falling and are now at dangerous lows.
Each year Europe’s Fisheries ministries set quotas for the number of fish that can be commercially fished in our seas. But cod levels have fallen so low that for the last seven years, Greenpeace and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea have recommended a ‘zero catch’ for cod in the North Sea.
According to Professor Callum Roberts, leading marine researcher at the University of York, the numbers of our most popular fish are in steep decline; "cod, saithe, ling, halibut, hake, turbot, brill, plaice, common skate, oysters, sandeels, blue whiting; the list of threatened fish is very long. Of all the large fish we value, there is probably only 10% of the number today that there used to be in 1900, and the 1900 figure was about half the 1800 figure. So we have lost 95% of the bigger stuff - the table fish."
So what can we do? In the long term Professor Roberts advocates a move to ban the discarding of unwanted catch to encourage more selective fishing, the creation of a large network of marine reserves off limits to fishing and a transfer of the power to make decisions on fishing quotas to an independent body.
For the consumer the change has to come at the till. Many popular dishes featuring cod or haddock can be made with alternative fish and will still taste as good, if not better. For help with working out which fish are under threat and which are considered sustainable, the Marine Conservation society has produced a Pocket Good Fish Guide of which fish to eat and which fish to avoid. Both are also available as a download.
