Give The Big Five a Break!

Our seas may be slightly murkier than our Tropical counterparts, but our UK ocean climate is PERFECT for a stunning variety of sealife that makes our seas, and our plates, happier places!  So why is it that we’re dead set on only consuming the big five? Now I am going to pause to see how many of the five you can guess…

*Pause*

Bluefin Tuna at Market - GreenProphet.com

Cod. Tuna. Haddock. Salmon. Prawns. 
  
Surprised? I would imagine that most or all of these are more than a little familiar to most in some form or another, whether battered, reformed, breaded or covered in marie rose sauce. So why is that??? When our waters have so much to offer, how is it that we are so focussed on these guys? 


The days of the daily special seem to be slipping away, where home menus and restaurants would use whatever seafood was being landed that day or that week.  We now tend to plan in advance, fill our freezers with breaded and battered cod and haddock and print our restaurant menus for the month, quarter, year or even permanently and in doing so, lose our market for the variety of species caught throughout the seasons.


If you sat down right now and wrote a list of all the UK seafood species you had tried...you may actually be surprised at how many were on the list but chances are the majority of them would have been at fancy restaurants and not in your own kitchen... have we become scared of fresh fish? Somewhere along the way, our abilities to cook with raw ingredients is diminishing and the convenience market is taking hold, resulting in the loss of skill and knowledge that allows us to grab a whole fish, prep it, fillet it and know how to cook it. If we keep our fishmongers alive, the only part of that we need to do at home is the cooking, but that is a whole other story that I'll save for another day!

Omega Three Rich Mackerel

Ironically, seafood really can be the ultimate fast food, with super speedy dishes that are ticking all the government health boxes from your Omega 3's to your 5 a days to your proteins and careful calorie intakes.  You can create a nutritious, delicious plate of fishy goodness in the time it takes the battered 'white fish' to sizzle in the oven, and it will put a happy, healthy smile on your face.   But if it's that easy, why don't we do it? It would take organisation on the part of the consumer, a better understanding of how to cook with fresh fish, a new outlook on the convenience of fresh food compared to oven dishes and a general change in consumer behaviour which is not likely to occur overnight! Other than that, its simple. Well actually it is, but so is recycling, and making sure you put rubbish in a bin rather than the local park...doesn't mean it happens!



The convenience industry is partly to blame, pandering to what they believe is the consumers choice but actually adding to the problem by offering such a limited range of species creating much of the demand that leads to the overtargetting of our beloved five.  But its a catch 22...the suppliers cannot be held 100% accountable when the consumer isn't taking the oppor-tuna-ty (ha ha) to broaden their fishy horizons and take advantage of mother natures ocean bounty.  Chippies can be just the same...how many do you know that have anything other than cod and haddock on the menu? But we need to be willing to try the other species when they ARE on offer...or where is the incentive?


If we are taking out all of one species it doesn't just mean our tuna melts may be a thing of the past, but each species has a key part to play in the wider picture and loss of one can mortally effect many others.  Everything has gotta eat...and if we remove all their food, life gets hard. Same goes for removal of predators - it doesn't mean nemo has a safe and happy life, it means nemo is out-competed by the thriving fish that also no longer have the predators.  

Leading the way - a Whitby Chippy broadens its horizons

So.  Its time to start diversifying and taking a little of everything instead of everything of a little. Betcha if I got you to do the Cod test, you would struggle to tell between Cod, Whiting, Coley, Pollock etc.  In fact, when you next buy a frozen battered fishy dish, its worth checking out the labels to see what white fish you are ACTUALLY eating, as 'white fish' could be any of the above and more...same in the fish and chip shops when it just says 'fish and chips'. 


One or two simple changes could make a huge difference, so next time you are looking at the battered haddock in the freezer department, maybe take a wander over to your fishmongers instead, or at the very least the wet counter in the supermarket and get inspired, TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!


This is a taster of what our local seas have to offer; Bream, Cod, Haddock, Coley, Whiting, Hake, Ling, Pollack, Monkfish, Mackerel, Herring, Eel, Halibut, Turbot, Brill, Plaice, Witch, Dab, Lemon Sole, Dover Sole, Sea Trout, Salmon, Lobster, Crab, Langoustine, Mussels, Scallops, Oysters, John Dory, Red Mullet, Grey Mullet, Sea Bass, Gurnard, Squid, Megrim, Cockles, Shrimp, Octopus...should I go on?

If you want a lovely reminder of some of these, you can be the proud owner of a beautiful fishy bag to collect your spoils in, with a handy shopping list of British delights printed on the side to inspire you. 

http://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/shop-for-wildlife/448.html


We are a country of diversity - lets add seafood to this list and give the continent a run for its money.