The issues surrounding sustainable fishing are sometimes difficult to grasp. Whilst there is undoubtedly a need to think more carefully about which fish we all buy, there are conflicting ideas about what the best methods of conservation are.

To say that one fish is ok to eat whilst another is not is to oversimplify the issues of sustainability. Buying fish ethically means taking into account a whole range of issues, such as how and where the fish is caught. For example, we avoid fish that has been caught using deep sea trawling or pair trawling. These methods are indiscriminate and catch whole populations in one fell swoop, including a whole host of species with no commercial value that are just simply killed in the process. Such trawling also destroys our precious sea beds. These huge vessels are out at sea for an average of 6-10 days at a time, with the fish they catch packed in ice in an attempt to try and preserve freshness. Essentially, this means that, by the time you buy the fish (usually in the supermarkets who enjoy the lower cost of this industrial fishing method), it has been on ice for anything up to two weeks. Now, to us that just isn’t fresh!

At Fish we are committed to trying our hardest to source fish that has been caught by sustainable fishing methods, whilst at the same time supporting our local fishing communities.  For instance, alongside purchasing the best quality, local fish available, we only buy cod that is line caught from sustainable stocks in Iceland; our scallops are hand dived, which is better for the environment as they are not dredged from the sea bed; our mussels are rope-grown; our salmon is organically farmed and our tuna caught by pole and line. We also try and buy as much line caught fish like sea bass and mackerel as possible.

Traceability is extremely important to guaranteeing the fish we buy is sustainable. At Fish we source our produce from local Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Cornish “Day Boats”. These are small independent boats that, as the name suggests, go out to sea and return the same day. By purchasing our fish in this way, from small scale fishermen, where fish populations are more sustainable we hope that fish stocks can remain safe from depletion in years to come.