Top tips to help you make the right choice (@Marine Conservation Society)
Welcome my first Blog Post!
Hurray!
I must say, it has been tricky for me to find the time for this, but the folder with "Blog ideas" is growing and I am VERY excited to share my knowledge and findings with you!
Finally....let`s get started :)
I personally really like #fish and #seafood dishes. I come from Bulgaria and most of the time we simply clean the fish, remove the guts and scales and cook it whole. Whether I have noticed here in the UK, most people prefer their fish filleted and bones removed.
Once I went in Bulgaria with a British friend and took him to a fish restaurant by the Black Sea
(20 mins drive from my parent`s house). Of course, the fish he ordered arrived whole. He then covered the fishes' head with a napkin and said "I can`t eat it, it is looking at me!"
Aaahhh! Now I understand! I guess a fillet is much easier to eat, too, and you don`t have to battle with heads, fins, spine etc. For me, if the fish will be cooked on a pan, I prefer a fillet, if it is going in the oven, I would choose a whole fish :)
Fresh fish, white wine, fresh herbs, lemon, salt and pepper and I will be one happy girl! Oh, and a bowl of BIG green salad on side, please!
Did you know that around 150 commercial fish species are found in UK waters, but most people routinely only eat 5 of them? COD< HADDOCK<TUNA<SALMON<PRAWNS
If you choose to eat fish from the "Big 5", try to follow the steps below for making the best choice. Even small changes like these can really make a big difference!
Look for the following labels:
Decades of bad fishing practices have left our oceans in a tragic state. Many species which were once common-place are now threatened, dwindling to the point where there aren’t enough to catch and make a profit. Over 90% of predatory species like cod and tuna have already been caught and, according to the UN, 70% of fisheries are overfished (2).
Fishing methods used by giant ships are often very destructive. Bottom and beam trawling drag nets across the seabed to catch flat fish like hake and sole. But they also smash everything in their way, destroying fragile coral reefs. And most fishing methods are very indiscriminate, catching many other species by accident. This by catch includes turtles, sharks, dolphins and other fish, which are often thrown back dead or dying into the sea.
There’s a human cost too. Industrial fishing means small-scale fishers using more traditional methods are suffering. In the UK, smaller boats are finding it hard to make enough money and communities in many fishing ports are economically deprived. The number of fishers has also halved in the last 20 years. Elsewhere in the world, people who depend on fish for food and income are seeing their stocks disappear as foreign vessels trawl in their waters (2).
Our choices really make a BIG difference!
And finally, Best choice and Fish to Avoid!(1)
I really hope this has been an useful information for you :)
Thank you!!
Yovi xx
Credit:
I have used text and images from the Marine Conservation Society Good Fish Guide 2019