18 March 2014
Leading Chef and UK Fishing Industry Unite To Champion Hake as UK’s Current Most Sustainable Fish
The voice
of the UK fishing industry and one of the country’s leading seafood chefs have
joined forces to encourage British restaurants and retailers to put hake on the menu after finding it to currently be
the ‘UK’s most sustainable fish’.
The campaign comes after
new research* revealed that half of us (52 per cent) eat fish at least once a
week and one in five (19 per cent) eat it around three times a week – yet the
majority of people rarely stray from the ‘seafood staples’ of cod, haddock and
salmon.
The
National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO), which represents
fishermen in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has
joined forces with leading seafood chef, food writer and restaurateur Mitch
Tonks to launch a series of free recipe cards encouraging the
British public to consider hake in
their diet, after crowning it the ‘UK’s most
sustainable fish’.
Hake was named as the UK’s
current sustainability champion fish after the NFFO conducted
an evaluation of stock and catch data against a criteria of 10 industry sustainability
markers. Hake, against
very stiff competition from other species, currently meets more of the standards than any other species.
The Food
Standards Agency recommends eating at least two portions of fish a week (1).
Hake, a species closely related to cod and haddock, is commonly eaten in
Europe, with the Spanish annually consuming 6kg per person – equating to around
half of all hake eaten across the continent. With
scientific research showing burgeoning stock levels of hake in UK waters(2),
catch quota for the fish has been increased by 49 per cent in 2014. However, of
the 12,000 tonnes of hake caught by British fishermen last year, just 1.5 per
cent was consumed in the UK.
Despite the popularity of fish as a healthy food source, NFFO
research* spanning 1,000 consumers revealed many fish eaters have never tried
some of the UK’s most sustainable fish species. Around half of people surveyed
had never tried hake (53 per cent) or pollock (47 per cent), whilst two thirds
of people (62 per cent) had never tried coley.
The top reasons people cited for not trying
alternative types of fish included the retail price (30 per cent), not liking
the look of the fish / considering it ugly (24 per cent) and poor availability
in supermarkets (11 per cent).
To identify the most sustainable fish, the
federation identified those stocks fished at or above maximum sustainable yield
(MSY) – considered the gold standard of sustainable fishing. This measures the
maximum catch that can be removed from the sea without jeopardising its future.
Hake also adheres to a number of other sustainability markers identified by the
NFFO.
The
NFFO’s chief executive, Barrie Deas, said: “In the last decade, the UK fishing
industry has worked closely with scientists to improve the sustainability of
commercial fishing, developing more selective gear and catching methods which
reduce the ecological footprint of fishing. Over that time we have witnessed a dramatic reduction in
fishing pressure across all of the main species groups and across the North East Atlantic fish stocks
are building, some very rapidly.
“In the sustainability stakes I’m pleased to say hake faces stiff competition as many stocks, including plaice,
haddock, herring and sole, ticked many of the boxes. In some stocks, including cod, mortality rates have
been halved pushing them up the sustainability rankings. UK fishermen realise
that their future is intimately linked
to the way that they fish and now sustainability is at the heart of everything
they do.
Mitch Tonks added: “Anything we can do to encourage people to try more fresh, sustainable
fish whilst supporting UK fishermen can only be a good thing. Hake is always a
popular option at my own restaurants and it’s readily available through
fishmongers and retailers. It’s a white fish which is simple to adapt different
recipes and flavours to and as such I hope more people give it a try.”
(1) Food Standards
Agency: What is a healthy balanced diet? http://food.gov.uk/scotland/scotnut/healthycatering/healthycatering2/healthycatering02#.Ut0CEfTFLsM
(2) International Council
for the Exploration of the Sea’s (ICES) advice on hake http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2013/2013/hke-nrth.pdf