Trawling on

Sustainable credentials have become a key issue for the fishing industry, and also caterers who want to satisfy diners that they take them seriously too. Sheila Eggleston reports.

In July, the European Commission put forward proposals to shake up the quota shares for fishing vessels. These would take effect from 2013 and, while they have been met with mixed feelings in the industry, the aim is to keep catches sustainable and to prevent over fishing and also to resolve the issue of discarded fi sh. Leading industry figures and TV chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have openly criticised the latter.

Up to half the catch of some species are thrown back into the sea because vessels have exceeded quotas or because the fish are too small. Under the new proposals, boats will be expected to land all the fi sh caught and the whole catch would count against quotas. This would apply to fish such as mackerel, herring and tuna from the beginning of 2014; cod, hake and sole the following year; and virtually all others from 2016.

But the bandwagon rolls on as more restaurants react to their consciences and make their menus more sustainable.

In January Café Spice Namaste's chef owner Cyrus Todiwala was part of a team that launched London's bid to become the world's first Sustainable Fish City where everyone only eats sustainable fish.

The campaign was inspired by the success in persuading the London 2012 Olympics to serve only sustainable fi sh at the games, and already restaurants such as D&D London, Carluccio's, Wahaca, and of course Café Spice Namaste have signed up.

Chef Simon Hulstone at The Elephant Restaurant & Brasserie in Torquay admits it's easier for him to source great produce locally being based right on the Devon Coast.

"Sustainability is integral to everything we do at the restaurant, but it's not just the quality of ingredients which make it important. We've already seen a worrying decline in fish numbers and I believe chefs can play an important role by introducing more sustainable options to a customer's repertoire."

He has been making use of fish and seafood caught up in his supplier's local catches that were generally thought to have no intrinsic value such as spider crabs.

"My ethos is that everything is on the plate for a reason and working with local suppliers means you gain a better understanding of where products come from and, in the case of fish, which of the lesser known varieties are good alternatives to less sustainable options," he says.

"We're currently trialling a 90% fish menu in our brasserie and so far it's been successful. While we still include the old favourites such as scallops, sole and turbot, it also gives us an opportunity to try out more unusual species such as the spider crab we use in spaghetti."

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) says that if a restaurant or pub wants to put the MSC ecolabel on its menu it has to get certified to show it maintains the 'chain of custody' traceability in the kitchen. This ensures that any dish bearing the MSC ecolabel can be traced back to the boats that caught the fish.

Fortunately, for restaurants, they only need to be able to show that their supplier is MSC certified and they are maintaining that traceability throughout their kitchens. It says the process is straightforward and explained in detail at www.msc.rg/restaurants.

It says McDonalds has got all its 6,900 European restaurants MSC certified. MSC communications manager James Simpson says: "It plans to introduce the ecolabel on its famous fillet-o-fish from October this year."

Other MSC news is that the Scottish haddock fishery has been certified as sustainable, joining Cornish sardines and Alaska pollock. "We also saw the certification of the first part of the Icelandic fleet so that should be entering supply chains soon," says Simpson.

"If you are looking for something a little smaller, the North Menai strait mussels fishery received its certificate at the end of November and is just starting to gear up to supply the UK. They are a top quality mussel and now come with the MSC ecolabel."

Mike Berthet, director of fish and seafood at M&J Seafood, says that other issues surrounding sustainable sourcing include the variations in weather conditions.

"For example, tuna fishing in the Far East will be entering the monsoon season making it difficult to fish so, for guaranteed continuity, chefs should switch to the super frozen tempered tuna, which is recommended all year round, and especially if they are thinking of serving sushi."

When it comes to alternative species, he says South African hake has good flavour and is the ideal weight for steaks or loin supreme dishes. "Deep frying hake fillets which have been dipped in a tempura batter creates a light modern alternative to battered cod. There are currently good supplies of South African hake, which again is MSC certified."

According to the industry authority Seafish, fish and seafood consumption has been resilient to the economic downturn with close to a billion servings of seafood in 2010 in the out of home market. This view is compounded by analyst Mintel which says the category is in line for a 23% growth in value terms to become a £3.9bn industry between 2010 and 2015.

Sustainability, health and flavour are encompassed in the latest products. Made from sustainably sourced Alaskan pollock fillets, each of Birds Eye Foodservice's fish finger's omega 3 content is further boosted by the use of natural fish oils in the coating.

Its Simply Bake to Perfection range of fresh fish fillets and seafood complemented with herb butter infusions can be oven baked in a revolutionary Bake Perfect bag in 15 minutes.

The range includes wild pink salmon with a lemon and herb butter sauce, wild Alaska pollock with a garden herb butter sauce, and king prawns with a sweet chilli sauce.

Meanwhile Crown Foods has produced a salt and vinegar infused tempura battered pollock, which it says will be popular with diners from a flavour profile and a sustainability perspective. A 16g goujon is ideal for snacks, starters and combo platters, and a 60g or 90g portion can be served as a light bite or main meal.

"Caterers weighing up the pros and cons of serving fish and seafood should heed the advice of Seafish, which says that while the North Sea stocks issue is a serious problem, they do not want consumers to stop eating fish," says Birds Eye's business unit controller Gulam Uddin.

"If caterers are concerned about sustainability, they can look into different species such as Alaskan pollock, therefore reducing the pressure on the supplies of more traditional species."

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