- Whisby Nature Park » »
- « « Lamb Boulangere
North Sea No-Fishing Zones
Preserving our dwindling fish stocks…
I’ve just finished reading an interesting couple of articles on the World Wildlife Fund website including a report calling for a ban on fishing in five protected zones in the North Sea. They argue that a ban would be the only way for commercial stocks such as cod and haddock to recover as well as helping the entire ecosystem to rejuvinate.
The rapid decline of the cod fishing industry has been well documented but the WWF also highlight the plight of dolphins, seals, angel sharks and skate, with the latter near extinct in the North Sea.
The WWF’s report asks for an immediate total of 5.08% of the North Sea to be protected with a long term view of 30% of the entire region. Sticking with percentages experts estimate that the main species of North Sea commercial fish have declined by some 50% and by almost 98% over the last century. North Sea cod stocks have seen a staggering decline; over 240,000 tons less of spawning stock since 1970 whilst on a global scale Scientists estimate 75% of the world’s fish stocks are over fished.
The effects of this can be seen by chefs on a daily basis, we are finding it increasingly difficult to put any fish on the menu that will a. appeal to customers b. generate sufficient profit and c. be avaliable the following week. We all thought farmed fish would be the way ahead, last week I read how a major farm in the UK had gone into administration with crippling debts and for the chef the price of farmed cod and halibut is untenable.
I have mentioned this in previous posts, it is a desperate situation all round. No-fishing zones would hit Scottish fishermen and their communities hard, the consumer would bear the brunt with inflated prices on cheaper alternatives but something has to give.
Unless the consumer changes their attitude towards alternatives such as pollack and coley then little will change. I agree that chefs, cooks, restaurants and ready meal manufacturers etc need to make the dishes sound as appetising as possible but the consumer has to ‘play ball’ a bit too.
We need to change.
Miles,
Put herrings on the menu… I hear they have naturally occurring Q10, a popular nutritional supplement and beauty ingredient. Apparently we need this enzyme for energy, look it up online.
Cid
p.s. I’ll be thinking up a catchy slogan…
If you’ve lost your CoEnzyme Q10
Eat more herrings and get some then!
Think yourself lucky I was trying to rhyme ‘clinical trials’ with Miles….
March 25, 2008 @ 9:06 am
Miles
you’re right about a change in attitude. I remember years ago when I was involved i setting up machinery to make frozen fish products
For example, we were constantly looking at ways to make economies etc as fish prices rose because marketing insisted , and I quote,
‘the housewife wants 10 fish fingers for 99p end of story’
Looking at what is involved from the trawling, processing, transport, manufacturing process, packaging, delivery, distribution then the supermarket overheads it is simply not right - cannot be !
Economies of scale have made it work but destroyed fish stocks.
I don’t believe restaurants would have made that much of an impact compared to one factory producing 5 tons an hour of haddock fish fingers, not to mention the tons of other products at the same time.
The great thing about what you can do in your trade is get people to try other fish which will then influence them in ‘everyday’ supermarket life.
Rod
March 25, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
Miles,
You are right in that the message will have to get across loud and clear. Perhaps you could put on your menu something like “Fish of the Day” to give you that flexibility? A bit like “Soup of the Day” when guests are happy to ask what it is.
Somehow, one feels a wake-up call coming in many things.
Elsie
March 25, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
Cid,
That enzyme is probably in one of my protein drinks-everything else is!!
Miles
March 25, 2008 @ 5:59 pm
Rod,
)
A really good comment thanks. You are quite right, factories produce a staggering amount of frozen fish meals, I poped into Asda/Walmart today, a place I never normally shop in and the amount of frozen ready meals avaliable is astonishing. There were plenty of people buying pre-breadcrumbed fillets but over on the fresh fish counter-not a sole (sorry, couldn’t resist that
Miles
March 25, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Elsie,
re catch of the day-been there, done that. Sadly it is too hit and miss to warrant doing it on a regular basis.
Miles
March 25, 2008 @ 6:05 pm
Miles,
What have we got that is on our doorstep and plentiful….. Dad used to say the Witham was full of eels, is it? Eel pie, eel surprise, eel moose with crystallized eels in a net of spun sugar?
Cid
March 25, 2008 @ 8:38 pm
Cid,
I would imagine eels are plentiful in the Witham, along with Pike which is less popular here then it is in other parts of Europe. I tried smoking pike once, not to be recommended. Did you hear about the giant snakehead fish caught by an unsuspecting angler on the Witham recently? A ferocious predator usually seen in Asian waters it must have given that unfortunate piscator a bit of a fright!
Miles
March 25, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
Last summer I was in Chicago and received a great little booklet at the Shedd Aquarium.
http://www.sheddaquarium.org/pdf/Shedd_08_Right_Bite_card.pdf
It’s US based sorry, but I find it quite helpful sometimes when I head off to the fishmonger.
ll. We have had some no fishing zones and closed fisheries in recent times here in the states. It hurts the fisherman, but it does wonders for the species being protected - striped bass being the prime example. Summer flounder (fluke) is severely restricted as well, and will be until 2013, but you can see the improvement year by year when you are fishing in the bays. Farmed fish aren’t all flabby and bland, farmed mussels are a blessing, and farmed catfish is quite good as well.
Neat book on cod: Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
March 25, 2008 @ 11:27 pm
Dave,
Thankyou for a great comment, getting a perspective on such matters from other countries only helps to highlight the problem as a global one. The document you have linked to is an interesting one and quite similar to the English version, particularly regarding tuna. Interesting to see scallops there, I am often offered American scallops when the English and Scottish ones aren’t avaliable. Thanks again Dave, this is a great example of what I want this blog to be all about as I wrote in a previous post
Miles
March 26, 2008 @ 9:00 am
Stumbled across this and thought you might have an interest:
http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/SeafoodWatch.asp
I was reading the other day about how the high cost of corn is causing catfish farms to shut down. Sad, that was a real example of sustainable fish population that thrived in farming environs - the quality was actually better than wild caught - like mussels.
July 19, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
Dave,
Thanks for that, the link is well worth a look at. Over here I use http://www.fishonline.org for their seafood guide which is based on the current MCS guidelines for sustainable sources. Interesting you should mention the problem of farmed fish, a major Scottish farm went bust late last year, Cod or Salmon, I forget which but it is a sad state of affairs.
I appreciate the thought.
Regards
Miles
July 19, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
Miles
I had some hake fillets tonight.
The taste and texture were superb - certainly better than cod in my opinion.
As you point out there are plenty of options out there to haddock and cod etc
Just wanted to follow-up on this post and let people know of am alternative I just tried
Rod
October 25, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
Rod,
That’s great to hear, Hake is so overated and we ship most of ours off to Mediterranean countries who love it.
It is also very versatile and hard to get wrong.
Thanks, I’m glad to hear it.
Miles
October 25, 2008 @ 6:45 pm