Thank fish its fry-day

Nova Corcoran

Did you know Fridays are the traditional day to eat fish and chips? This stems from the Roman Catholic tradition of not eating meat on Fridays and having fish instead. Eating fish and chips on the seafront is a very British tradition. In fact only places that the British population have emigrated to in large numbers have fish and chips at all. There are 11,000 fish and chip shops across the UK selling 255 million fish and chip meals every year (Jamieson 2010). That's a lot of fish! The UN note that fishing is central to the livelihood and food security of 200 million people, especially in the developing world (UN 2006). So why do we need to think more about fish?

So what the fish is the problem?
According to Greenpeace 70% of the world’s fisheries are over fished, over exploited or severely depleted (Greenpeace 2011a). Overfishing threatens the food supply of millions of people. Basically overfishing means that fish cannot replenish themselves quickly enough to keep up with our appetites for fish. One day fish and chips might be a delicacy rather than a Friday night special. Greenpeace says avoid our most popular fish and chip shop fish - cod, haddock and plaice unless it is line caught Icelandic cod or haddock.

Trawling for more than fish
Line caught fish are the best. Bottom trawling ploughs up the whole sea floor (imagine a huge net being dragged across the sea bed behind a boat) and pair trawling (a net between two boats) is indiscriminate and catches creatures like dolphins. One point aside is that tuna cans that have 'Dolphin Friendly' labels generally mean very little since they adhere to no legal standard or minimum criteria and may damage other marine life. For example, long lining for tuna is associated with a high by catch rate of turtles, sharks and seabirds (Greenpeace 2011b).

Health benefits of fish
Oily fish i.e. trout, mackerel, herring, sardines and pilchards contain vitamin D, selenium, omega 3 (Torpy et al 2006). Eating these fish can reduce the risk and risk factors of Coronary heart disease and related problems i.e. lowers blood pressure and risk of stroke. In addition all these fish are still from stable fishing stocks. Although there are levels of mercury in some fish that pregnant women are urged to avoid, generally traces are very low and health benefits outweigh any possible negatives. In relation to fish and chips, although the fish might be good for you, the way it is cooked may not be. If you can find fish that has been cooked in vegetable oil it will be slightly healthier than traditional frying methods. In addition thicker versions of chips have less fat in them. The key is moderation - don't eat battered fish every night of the week.

What can you do?
• Ask your chippy if the fish is from a sustainable source. Better still is it caught locally?
• In the UK, the best fish are line-caught mackerel, line-caught sea bass, and farmed mussels. Rod and line caught tuna and herring are also good fisheries. The Marine Conservation Society has a Pocket good fish guide which covers all fish. You can download this here.
• Eat more oily fish – its good for you!
• If you must eat Cod get it from M&S and Waitrose as it is mostly from sustainable fisheries.
• Use your local fishmongers if they sell fish from sustainable sources or local fisherman. Your local fish might be really tasty.
• Try alternatives to cod like coley, pouting, pollock and pollack. Instead of prawns try mussles, clams, cockles, crab and squid. BBC has some good recipes for alternative fish. Click here for Coley or Pollack.