DO your homework on sustainable fish stocks, as dining on endangered species is hard to swallow.
I DON'T have much of an affinity with fish. This statement was made by yours truly after a snorkelling expedition in Hawaii many years ago, when long-haul air travel was something to brag about rather than sweep under the carpet.
The comment was met by silence and stares of incomprehension by my fellow snorkellers. Just as well I hadn't revealed the true depth of my feelings. Rather than marvelling at their grace, I had flinched every time a creature of the deep came anywhere near me. Do fish have teeth? I swear some of them were looking at me with hungry eyes. And these were just wee guppy-sized things. As for swimming with dolphins, forget about it. Have you heard the noise they make when they open their big toothy jaws? "Ack ack ack, look at the silly humans. Ack ack, let's eat them for lunch."
Okay, so maybe that last bit isn't based on fact. But sea creatures and I just don't seem to have much in common. As far as my little brother is concerned, I even have a fish allergy. This fallacy was concocted by my mum to explain why he had to eat fish at teatime and I didn't. I just couldn't stomach it. Apart from fish fingers, and they probably didn't actually have any fish in them. But despite not exactly loving fish, I do care about them as part of the bigger planetary picture.
In eco-living terms, the average fish counter is laced with environmental pitfalls. Should you opt for sea bream or northern red snapper? (Sea bream.) Should you splash out on some anchovies to give your pizza an extra burst of flavour? (No.) Surely something as ugly-sounding as a dogfish must be okay to deep-fry and serve up with chips? (Alas, no.) According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), nearly 70% of the world's fish stocks are now fully fished, over-fished or depleted – and that includes dogfish.
It's not just over-fishing that's a concern. According to the Marine Conservation Society (www.mcsuk.org), hundreds of thousands of marine mammals and seabirds are killed needlessly all over the world by getting caught in fishing gear.
Fancy a prawn cocktail? You might want to have a look at the campaign for sustainable and ethically traded prawns being run by the Environmental Justice Foundation (www.ejfoundation.org) first. Prawn farming is associated with the destruction of coastal habitats (forests and wildlife destroyed to make way for the shrimp farms) as well as human-rights abuses (and let's not forget the estimated 150,000 marine turtles drowned in trawl nets every year).
Then there's the question of food miles. We've all heard about the scampi caught in British waters that is transported to China for processing before being returned to our shores to be sold.
Despite all this bad news, it has actually never been easier to make sustainable choices about your fish supper. The Marine Conservation Society's Fish Online website (www.fishonline.org) is full of information about fish stocks and the welfare of our seas, and even more importantly lists of the species that you should and shouldn't eat. There's even a little Pocket Good Fish Guide, which you can print out to help navigate your local fishmongers and restaurant menus.
Look out for the MSC's eco-label when you're shopping for fish to ensure it comes from a fully traceable, sustainable source. The MSC certification scheme extends to restaurants too, and the Grill at the Dakota Forth Bridge hotel recently became the first Scottish restaurant to be eligible to use the logo beside certified sustainable seafood dishes.
With just a little study of these fish lists, you'll soon be able to impress your friends with your knowledge of which seafood is ecologically sound to eat. Pot-caught spider crab good; parrotfish bad.
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