Fight on for the fish

Although the EU is dragging its feet over implementing proposals to stop the discarding of dead fish into the sea, the Fish Fight Campaign, started by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, has expanded into an active ‘seafood coalition’.

Major businesses selling seafood including Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, The Co-operative, Birds Eye, Young’s Seafood and several others have signed up to be the first members of the newly formed Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC). They perceive that part of the problem is that most UK consumers prefer only five species of fish. The result of this limited taste is to put unsustainable pressure on just a few species. The others get thrown away. As SSC members do not want to wait for the slow process of legislative reform, they have voluntarily decided to encourage consumers to eat a wider variety of sustainable seafood.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall said: “If we’re going to sort out the discards disgrace, everyone in the business of selling fish needs to play their part. FishFight helped to amplify a clear message from ordinary people that they want to eat more sustainable fish. The Sustainable Seafood Coalition is about giving more people access to sustainable fish and I’m proud to be involved.” Richard Luney of Marks & Spencer agreed, saying he would like to see it ‘easier for our customers to make informed decisions regarding the fish and seafood they buy.’

Kate Jones for the Co-operative Group agreed. She said, ‘We believe the Client Earth Sustainable Seafood Coalition will be an important new force in helping to bring about a much-needed reduction in fish discards. The Co-operative takes this issue very seriously, and has a stringent Responsible Fish Sourcing Policy for all our own-brand fish, including canned and frozen, and all our own-brand products containing fish, such as sandwiches.’ She added, ‘The Co-operative tops the latest Marine Conservation Society (MCS) league table of supermarkets for supporting and selling sustainably-sourced fish.’

Essentially, it’s down to the customer. If you see unfamiliar kinds of fish being offered – try them! We’ve eaten all the cod and most of the haddock, so it’s time to think more broadly about the many delicious fish that are at present being caught and thrown away.