Geri
wasn't born to follow
I noticed in the Wetherspoons today that thier cod is sustainable.
Perhaps I should just get mine from the same place.
Alternatives to cod?
- Thread starter Geri
- Start date
I noticed in the Wetherspoons today that thier cod is sustainable.
Perhaps I should just get mine from the same place.
ScallyWag II
New Member
I don't know about Alaskan cod tbh, what hfw says in his book is that Icelandic cod is about the only ecologically acceptable cod available, purely because of Iceland's stance on fishing in their waters in the past. It means that Icelandic cod is relatively expensive, but thats a price that has to be paid really. The other sustainable cod he mentions is farmed cod, from Scotland or Scandinavia. Someone said earlier on in the thread that farmed fish is fed on wild fish, according to hfw it's processed wild fish, and is therefore also doing damage to wild fish stocks as they lose out on natural food supplies.
Re Hake, agian he's not referring to North West USA but European stocks, and he is even more against eating hake than cod. Aparently hake, or Merluza, in Spanish is huge in Spain. It says in his book that allededgly "practically all of the hake caught worldwide now ends up in Spain. Madrid's Mercamadrid fish market is the biggest in Europe....takes over a 332 hectare site, it's the world's most powerful hake magnet, attracting hauls of hake from the North Sea to the southern Atlantic...Few species, apart from cod and bluefin tuna are under more pressure.
Ok, so this is all from a book written by someone in the uk who is trying to sell this book and therefore trying to promote lesser known species of fish but I believe him.
Are Alaskan stocks really that plentiful? Or have the worlds fishing fleets caught onto them yet?
kalidarkone
Bringing YOU round.....
What about tilapia? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilapia -really delicious and you get about 5-6 fillets of it for £5 in the sweet mart. Also sell it in Tesco and Toveys. Really good for making curried fish. Is white fish none oily.
MullahNasrudin
Kick Your Own Arse
Alaska is considered to be largest source of palatable fish in the world, which is why their fisheries are considered sustainable at the moment.
This means that it's fine to eat Alaskan pollack and cod -- for the moment.
Regarding Iceland, their stocks are beginning to dwindle due to high demand, so their cod won't be considered sustainable for much longer.
A company in Scotland that farmed cod recently went bust, so that's gone as a source.
I've been buying some hake recently, but apparently it comes not from the overfished Med but from the shores of Blighty -- apparently a bonus of climate change.
I like HFW a lot, but the trouble with books is that events can often overtake them -- http://eng.msc.org/ is a good source of information about what's sustainable.
While we're plugging, I rate Loch Fyne highly. They're pricier than the fishmongers, but they do take sustainability seriously: http://www.lochfyne.com/Shop.aspx
This means that it's fine to eat Alaskan pollack and cod -- for the moment.
Regarding Iceland, their stocks are beginning to dwindle due to high demand, so their cod won't be considered sustainable for much longer.
A company in Scotland that farmed cod recently went bust, so that's gone as a source.
I've been buying some hake recently, but apparently it comes not from the overfished Med but from the shores of Blighty -- apparently a bonus of climate change.
I like HFW a lot, but the trouble with books is that events can often overtake them -- http://eng.msc.org/ is a good source of information about what's sustainable.
While we're plugging, I rate Loch Fyne highly. They're pricier than the fishmongers, but they do take sustainability seriously: http://www.lochfyne.com/Shop.aspx
MullahNasrudin
Kick Your Own Arse
That's a bit shit. When I go to the fishmongers, I usually go for things like coley, mackerel, cornish sardines (aka pilchards), mussels, and rock oysters -- all sustainable.
ScallyWag II
New Member
Ta for the link, saved that for future reference. I've only recently started eating fish (after 20 odd years of being veggie) so I'm on a steep learning curve as to what is sustainable and what's not. All new info is more than appreciated!
Funky_monks
Neo-Rustic
They are starting to farm that in the east of the country over here now, so it should soon be possible to get stuff farmed in the UK as oppose to airfreighted from Jamaica or wherever else.
Its a bit meatier than cod. I like it, but I don't think I'd batter it and fry it, I like it poached in a clear broth, orieantal style.
But hang on, isn't farmed fish unhealthy?
Geri
wasn't born to follow
Is it battered? I'm looking for fish to eat with chips and baked beans.
MullahNasrudin
Kick Your Own Arse
Quite a few supermarkets now sell battered hoki/pollack in the freezer, that might be a good option -- especially Lidl et al if you're on a budget.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Shop at Waitrose?
http://www.waitrose.com/food/foodissuesandpolicies/sustainablefishing.aspx
Kind of an expensive option, though.
http://www.waitrose.com/food/foodissuesandpolicies/sustainablefishing.aspx
Kind of an expensive option, though.
fair enuff but I was only answering the OP.
Funky_monks
Neo-Rustic
Innit weird how you can get alaskan pollock but not british stuff (or coley, which is very closely related) in batter.
Wonder why that is?
Wonder why that is?
Both badly overfished, in home waters at any rate.
Line-caught is a red herring, if you'll pardon the pun. It's perfectly possible to overfish a stock with lines. 'Line-caught' therefore means little in itself, although it doesn't involve the same issues of bycatch and habitat damage that trawling does.
Chance would be a fine thing, in this part of the world!
Often not good. Fish farming brings plenty of problems of its own.
A terrible waste in this day and age, IMO.
That probably means that it's air-freighted in from Iceland, whose fishery management regime is a fair bit better than most other places. Greenwash, basically, which is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from an outfit like Wethershite.
There's been high demand for Icelandic cod for several centuries...! Iceland has done a good job of managing its cod stock - which is its only natural resource and therefore vital to its economy - than most, but as prices rise so pressure grows to harvest more of it. The fishing interest in Iceland is powerful, although less reckless than some. Thus far, Iceland's management regime has been far more robust than most, but like all political systems it's far from fail-safe and there's no room for complacency. It's not inevitable that it 'won't be considered sustainable' for much longer, but it's a definite possibility - if it's even really sustainable now, that is.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Haddock ftw
