From the sea Why our seafood industry needs your support more than ever and how you can make a menu from the UK’s best seaside offerings
From fisherman jumpers to Cromer crab, the UK’s fishing heritage is an essential part of our island’s cultural identity. However, it’s taken a big hit in the past 18 months with Covid-19 and Brexit. Industry body Seafish says: “In the UK, we export a lot of the seafood we catch and import much of the seafood we eat.” European exports have been made more difficult with Brexit due to extra paperwork and demand has been down across the world because of the pandemic causing hospitality to be closed for long periods. It’s never been more important to support our local fisheries and encourage more Brits to eat seafood.
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01 POLLACK Pollack is the slightly smaller and more sustainable relative of cod. Line-caught pollack from the southwest is a great sustainable choice, at its best from May to October. It can be used in most white fish recipes as a simple replacement. Use a quality curry paste, plenty of garlic, ginger, coconut milk and chillies to create a delicious pollack curry. Serve with rice and naan bread to give customers an Indian feast.
03 HAKE Light in flavour but firm and meaty in texture – don’t be afraid to throw big flavours at this fish. It’s really popular in Spain so many customers might have tried it on holiday. Try baking in orzo (rice-like pasta) with smoky chorizo and red chilli. Look out for hake from Cornwall or the North Sea and don’t buy it fresh until after July (when the breeding season ends).
drop in value of seafood exports in 2020 Source: Seafish, 2020 vs 2019
Greg Smith from Seafish shares: “Changing perceptions is the first step towards increasing seafood consumption in the UK over the long term – the goal for our Love Seafood initiative. We were heartened by a consumption increase in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, but we know there’s still a lot more work to do, especially now. Getting more seafood on UK menus would be a fantastic step forward.” We have access to an abundance of wonderful seafood in our shores, especially when you look beyond the usual cod and haddock. So, do your bit to support our seafood by popping some tasty additions on your menu. Take a look at our top, sustainable British seafood picks to serve this summer and beyond.
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