Sustaining faith

Sustaining faith

If the fish pundits are right, there is still a buoyant future for our fish stocks despite the turbulence in the industry

Without doubt there is an issue when it comes to fishing for certain species in our seas but the view in the marketplace is that the problem isn't insurmountable and that there is no need yet to throw our fish knives away.

The stark reports that fish supplies could collapse within half a century if nothing is done about commercial fishing have a ring of truth about them, as for some time scientists have been on the 'save the cod' campaign trail calling for a total ban on cod fishing.

But the majority of the industry is now working towards more responsible, sustainable fishing to protect its heritage.

The Sea Fish Industry Authority is constantly promoting fish and seafood in a healthy diet and offering advice about alternative fish choices such as whiting, coley and pollock. The Marine Stewardship Commission (MSC) has also been playing its part in highlighting the fish we should be buying [see panel].

Illegal fishing is just one of the issues facing sustainability. Fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw recently spoke at a seminar on sustainable fisheries hosted by Norwegian Seafood and spoke out for "international co-operation". He said: "We need an international approach to resolve global environmental challenges. We should focus on creating programmes and measures to help prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and irresponsible fishing in international waters."

Since then he has reiterated that "we need to clamp down on those stocks that are in bad shape, and we have to encourage those in the UN and elsewhere to enforce governance of the high seas".

The Seafish Authority as well as the Government think tanks and fisheries have done a lot over the last three years to make an effort to control the industry, which we have not had in previous years, says M&J Seafood's commercial
director Mike Berthet. "If you look at the closed areas, net sizes, months at sea, reduced quotas and much better policing, it's amazing what technology has brought to the table. If someone turns off its transponder it will be spotted," he explains, adding that certainly in the UK it's pretty difficult to land illegal fish nowadays and there have been some high profile prosecutions.

But Berthet doesn't believe it's as bad as some make out. He says companies like M&J, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer are forging ahead with their sustainability policies in house and they are the vanguard for other retailers and suppliers.

"While we are seeing Greenpeace exert a lot of effort, which has resulted in some good and bad things, generally there is a will in the UK certainly to continue to seek sustainable fisheries," he says.

"We've seen the MSC sustainable list grow dramatically and there are a huge number of fisheries trying to get onto it. It's still in its formative stages but we are seeing sustainably sourced fish from the Dover channel, responsible fishing in the Nass waters in British Columbia, and all of this is moving under pressure of the consumer.

"We have clients like the National Trust which has to remove anything from its menus that is considered to be unsuited to its image."
And that's the nub of the matter ... Sustainability looks like being added to a long list of must-haves by consumers who have already made significant inroads into organic, fairtrade, natural and healthy food.

However, with more suppliers tapping into sustainable fisheries and more different species coming to the table, things are looking up.

Berthet says M&J has easy access to all parts of the world to dissipate the pressure on North Sea stock whether it's portions of red snapper from India, tuna supremes from the Maldives, or scallops from Cape Cod. "All this has the effect of opening the pool for the chef to choose from and also we could not sustain the growth in seafood if we just had the North Sea," he adds.

So is the talk about supplies being short just a scare? Berthet says: "Some of the data being used is usually past its sell by date. What we are seeing are regional fisheries coming into existence where all the stakeholders - fishermen, anglers, port authorities, sit around a table to discuss the fishing in their area.
"There are a huge variety of menus up and down the high street and obviously we are seeing a surge in fish consumption. We have seen 17% growth in seafood consumption this year. We have seen more seafood on menus. It's seen as a healthy option. We are also moving into an ageing demographic and it's a fact that the older generation eat more fish. It's a very good marketplace."

Young's too takes a serious stance towards sustainable fishing. It currently uses 60 species of fish from 30 countries worldwide, and supplies the foodservice and retail sectors. It claims that it has more MSC accredited products than any other fish producer in the world and will continue to extend the list.

The company says that its way of monitoring catches is through its revolutionary tracing technology called Young's Trace that gives precise information about where and when its fish are caught, which can be highlighted on menus [FD June 2006 page 52].

Sauces and stuffings

Opportunities to jazz up seemingly bland fish dishes can lie in the sauce or topping that goes with it. Sauce specialist Macphie says its customers are looking for added value on fish - from white to shellfish, by way of sauces, roux, marinades, dips and even stuffings. Macphie's Simon Rose says it isn't just mornay and a parsley sauce anymore, although they still sell.

"Toppers, melts and stuffings are the products that are growing. You can put a melt on a tuna or swordfish steak, or you can use stuffings in a whole fish, which can be breadcrumbs or grains such as couscous, quinoa, etc. There are people who want to push the boundaries."

One of the rising stars in the sector has been sushi - something M&J Seafood is currently working on. "We launched sushi four years ago but we were slightly ahead of our time," says Berthet. "We are now providing sushi tapas using high quality seafood. It's all frozen so if you want to you can put it together yourself - rice, pickled ginger and wasabi and you're away," he says.

"We are looking to put it on buffet and breakfast menus. We are using tuna, salmon, squid, cuttlefish, [grilled] eel - mackerel too - but most fish lends itself very well. We are seeing sushi everywhere - not just Japanese restaurants but other main restaurants too.

"At the Hilton Manchester we put up the sushi kitchen and it was the most popular venue there," he adds.

Natural Choice Shetland salmon certified under the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme, Hyperfresh raw whole lobsters specially prepared using technology to enable the meat to be separated from the shell without cooking it first or destroying the shell, and virtually shell-free crabmeat from south east Asian Portunas Pelagicus Blue swimming crabs are just three of its latest products.

But looking to the future, Berthet sees more portion control products coming into the range it offers. "Rather than just head and bones we are portioning at source much more and chefs have latched on to that. They like us just transporting centre of plate - with accurate portion control and a nice chunk of fish," he says.
Pre frozen tuna is another product he feels will hit the high street. "This is yellow fin from the Maldives," he adds.

There will also be new species coming into the UK - "more Pangasius and cobi, and they are fishing moi". But he says 70% of what we eat is aquaculture fish. "Virtually every main species is being looked to for aquaculture - sea bream, sea bass, etc.

"Farmed barramundi is a successful product that is suiting a particular market - for those who want to put an exotic species on a menu, it solves the problem of food miles."

Text Sheila Eggleston Photography Macphie, M&J Seafood, Young's