When you get your peachy, permeable heart gets broken people often say the old quip, 'plenty more fish in the sea', which of course brings no solace whatsoever, but it's still a nice thought. However, if things within the fishing industry carry on the way they are this inspirited thought will soon become nothing but a spurious quibble, like, 'it's not you, it's me.'
The fight for sustainable fishing is one of the most poignant topics in our current society, and one that must be realised and addressed before our vast oceans become barren places. According to the UN, half of the world's fish stocks are fully exploited, and another quarter overfished. There's something fishy going on for sure.
The main villain encumbering sustainable fishing is the European Commission and their crazy Common Fishery Policy laws. Within these laws lies the quota system, which is intended to protect fish stocks by setting limits on how many fish of a certain species can be caught. Once a quota is reached, fishermen are no longer allowed to land any of the over-quota fish, so if they catch them, which their fishing methods make it impossible not to, they have no choice but to throw them overboard, usually already dead. This is known as discard. In the world of sustainable fishing, 'discard' is a dirty, dirty word. (Like clotted cream at a Weight Watchers meeting). The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch, which is quite a harrowing statistic and a wicked waste of nutritious food.
It's a case of what you don't see, doesn't hurt you. Imagine seeing a big pile of dead baby lambs at the side of road, you'd be devastated, you'd cry your eyes out. But that would only ever happen in the dark recesses of some maniacs imagination. Discard is a reality. It is happening right now. All those little fishies floating gently through the blue water, down, down, down into the darkness, hundreds of them, thousands of them. It needs to stop. NOW.
As Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, sustainable fishing warrior, pioneer of the Hugh's Fish Fight, says, "It's not just bad, it's mad." Hugh has come caterwauling in with his floppy hair blowing in the wind, zealous in his mission to promulgate the horrors of over fishing and discarding. And he's done a bloody good job too. Thanks to the Fish Fight and the propensity of our online age to ignite democratic revolutions, Hugh and 700,000+ of us have forced the European Commission to propose a ban on discarding. However there is another 18months to go before the new Common Fisheries Policy becomes law, so there is still work to be done to ensure the success of the ban and the future of long term sustainable fishing.
So what can we do? Well, we are not blameless, in fact we are the opposite of blameless, basically we are largely 'to blame'. Our unadventurous fish eating habits have caused the over fishing of certain species. Here in the UK cod, salmon and tuna account for 50% of our fish consumption. We need to give these species a break, expand our fish-eating minds and start dancing to a different tuna, if you'll pardon the pun.
Nobody likes change, we are pertinacious old fools, set in our ways, the thought of having chips with any fish other than cod is unthinkable to us. We turn our noses up at lesser-known fish species, but there are far sexier fish out there. We need to be adventurous, discover the mysteries of mackerel, the curiosities of coley, the wonders of whiting, the delectability of dab and the voluptuousness of flounder. If we are more diverse with which fish we stick our forks into, then the other vulnerable species will get a chance to recover and replenish, and our oceans will be happily bulging with fish once again. Another thing we can do is get our local chippies involved in the 'Mackerel Mission', get them serving up Hugh's mackerel bap, and get the ball rolling on changing the nations fish eating habits. Mackerel is tasty, cheap and has great health benefits (rich in Omega 3's), it's quite the catch really.
So go on, don't be a cod-forsaken idiot all your life, broaden your fishy horizons. Sign the Fish Fight petition today and download the Fish Fight app for lots of recipe ideas using lesser-known fish, like porgy. What a cool name.
Long live Mr.Cod, Mrs.Salmon and Uncle Tuna.
http://www.fishfight.net
http://www.fish2fork.com
http://thejore.com/#1073227/we-love-fish
http://www.eatmemagazine.com/sustainable-fishing/
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