Tuesday 09 Aug 2011
M&J Seafood is urging chefs and restaurateurs to consider the very serious issue of unnecessary fish discarding.
Thankfully, with the fantastic backing of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his ‘Fish Fight’ Campaign – www.fishfight.net – awareness is being raised on the thousands of tonnes of seafood unnecessarily discarded back into the sea every year.
Next year the European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) will be reviewed and reflect the changes in the fish and seafood market. Although how it will be amended is still being fiercely debated amongst the 27 EU countries.
The general consensus in the EU is that better measures need to be adopted and that less (if any) fish should be discarded in our oceans.
Fish discards were hotly debated in the last instalment of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘Fish Fight’ and with the much anticipated return of the Channel 4 series the topic of fish discards is predicted to be addressed.
In the EU fish is discarded for reasons including the catch not meeting the minimum landing size, there is little or no money in the catch, fisherman have no quota left and most importantly the species caught cannot be easily marketed.
Of all the contributing factors to fish discards there is one that we can all do something about – and that is fish that can be easily marketed and eaten... should be.
Chefs have such an important role to play in this. As part of the major Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform, there will be a huge need to utilise species that can and should be used for human consumption.
M&J Seafood is not waiting around for that moment to happen and is currently helping chefs to embrace species such as Dab, Flounder, Cuttlefish, Witch, Megrim, Pout, Sand Sole, and indeed, the mighty Gurnard!
For several years we have been championing these under-utilised species. In 2008, we brought the humble Gurnard to the fore and it is now gracing dining tables up and down the country. Our wonderful UK chefs have designed new or adapted old recipes, and this demand means Gurnard thrown back into the sea unnecessarily has significantly reduced.
Fisherman and chefs alike are doing what they can to reduce the number of discarded fish and seafood into our oceans. But is it enough?
