UK sales of ‘alternative’ fish have soared following Channel 4’s Fish Season in January.
The week after the coverage, led by celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay, supermarkets and fish traders reported increased sales compared to the week before the programmes aired.
Tesco said that it sold between 25% and 45% more fresh sardines, coley, brown crab, whiting and sprats compared with the week before, reported The Telegraph, and Marks & Spencer said it had its biggest ever week of fish sales, up 25% on the same week last year.
Billingsgate Market in London said its 42 traders had seen demand rise for alternatives to cod, salmon and tuna such as coley, pollack and mackerel, and Sainsbury's said that pollack was up 167%.
The premise of the three part series ‘Hugh's Fish Fight’ was to highlight that the fish-eating habits of the UK are seriously misaligned with the long-term viability of fisheries. More than half the fish eaten in the UK comes from just three species – cod, tuna and salmon.
The series showed the public how perfectly good fish is discarded – thrown back into the sea dead or dying, due to the EU quota system. There has been a very strong reaction to the anti-discards campaign and thousands have signed up to a protest letter to Brussels. Defra has also launched a new initiative to try to reduce discards, which includes finding new markets for ‘neglected’ species.
The series sparked outrage amongst consumers as the discard issue was highlighted for them. The industry in general has said that this is a good thing, as this issue needed to be brought to the consumer’s attention.
However, now that the British public all know that the problem is there, the question is, what is going to be done about it?
Chief Executive of Seafish, Dr Paul Williams, says: “While the programmes have shown the problems of discarding, they have yet to focus on solutions – we have to be mindful that there is no one solution to solve all the reasons for discarding. Seafish, the fishermen, the scientists and Government have been working on ways to mitigate these problems for many years – some of which offer real hope for the future, alongside possible changes to the Common Fisheries Policy.”
However, not all were convinced about the value of celebrity chefs highlighting the cause on television. Charles Clover, author of the film End Of The Line about overfishing, wrote in The Sunday Times that a change in eating habits will not save fish if people do not fish responsibly.
So, for now, British consumers have taken note and are buying cod, tuna and salmon alternatives, but how long will this last? And we will just have to wait and see if Fearnley-Whittingstall achieves his goal of getting the EU to halt discards in the CFP Reform.
To sign Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s petition, please visit www.fishfight.net
