fish

Back in January, Channel 4’s Big Fish Fight season caused quite a splash. The undoubted star of the season was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his three Hugh’s Fish Fight programmes which brought the shocking facts behind the fish on our plates onto TV screens.

It's a confusing time in the north Atlantic with an international controversy brewing over the humble mackerel. Some are comparing it to last century's 'cod wars', when the UK and Iceland went to battle over access to cod fishing.

Mackerel, an exquisitely beautiful fish related to the tunas, is relatively plentiful, occurs in big shoals, and can be caught quite 'cleanly' by seine nets or handlines. For these reasons (as well as the health benefits of it being an oily fish), it has become a firm favourite for those seeking a sustainable option.

I was gearing up to write something on the interesting new report by the New Economics Foundation (Nef) on how the EU is becoming more reliant on fish from other parts of the world, when my attention was drawn to a piece by the BBC's Richard Black who explains far more eloquently than I ever could what 'fish dependence day' is.

Nef has compared the amount of fish caught within the EU with the amount we consume to find out when - if we only ate our own, EU-caught fish from January 1 - we would have to start using fish supplied by other countries. This year, that day was last Friday 9 July or 'fish dependence day' and, like the global ecological debt day which Nef also computes, it's getting earlier each year as we import more and more fish. Or eat more. Or both.

Like I say, Mr Black covers all the main points and more on a sobering thought exercise.

Do you like eating fish? Did you realise that around 75 per cent of the world's fish stocks are now fished to their limit or over-fished? While you can still eat some species of fish with a clear conscience, others are being rapidly fished close to extinction. Oxford-based band Stornoway has helpfully recorded a song that tells you which are which. 'The Good Fish Guide' is based on the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) guidelines to ethical fish consumption. It will shortly be released as a downloadable single via the Truck label, an environmentally proactive record label, with all profits to the MCS.