Why don't Brits eat fish?

[Shayne]

https://www.foodnavigator.com/Artic...l-catch-taste-for-fish-amid-coronavirus-shock

If it went t a local market we would earn twice as much and you would pay half as much .

 

[Towpack]

We’ve always been fish eaters but now nothing like as much as we used to. We regularly had fresh cod and Finny every week but stopped primarily due to the cost of it. We still eat the tinned stuff, nothing like as good as fresh of course and we visit the chippy for Saturday lunch. First time a had a fresh Tuna steak I was amazed on the taste difference compared to tinned Tuna. It was expensive though.

 

[David]

I'm not much good for the fishing industry as Don't like fish to much

 

[Chas]

We’ve always been fish eaters but now nothing like as much as we used to. We regularly had fresh cod and Finny every week but stopped primarily due to the cost of it. We still eat the tinned stuff, nothing like as good as fresh of course and we visit the chippy for Saturday lunch. First time a had a fresh Tuna steak I was amazed on the taste difference compared to tinned Tuna. It was expensive though.

Fresh Tuna steak lovely, tinned Tuna yuk!

 

[jibberjabber]

A nice bit of sergeant fish or robalo goes down well, as does dogfish and chips.

 

[jibberjabber]

Us Brits only eat £5.65 billion worth of seafood in the UK weighing in at 380,000 tonnes.

There are 10,500 fish & chip shops across the country serving up 167 million fish and chip meals a year, all closed at the moment I might add.

UK consumers prefer cod and haddock. We eat these fish more than any other nation. This is the fish served most often in our fish & chip shops. Most of this comes from the Icelandic, Norwegian and Barents Seas, where around one twelfth of the total is caught by the British trawler Kirkella.

 

[Higgy]

I love Tuna.. I eat a tin every day.... When i lived in Denmark we use to buy Tuna Steaks straight off the Boat down on the Harbour wall... One day the dog caught a Sea Trout.I Took it home wrapped it in foil with lemon and garlic, Straight in the oven.'Delish'... Its too easy to get take out burgers or Pizza these days..

 

[Rob Cowell]

https://www.foodnavigator.com/Artic...l-catch-taste-for-fish-amid-coronavirus-shock

If it went t a local market we would earn twice as much and you would pay half as much .

Where can we buy it in South Wales, Shayne? Ashtons in Cardiff market is great, and I've seen them reminding people they're still open so I assume footfall is well down for them. Not sure if Swansea market is open. Other than I don't know where the fishmongers are? Bridgend is dire. Supermarket slabs have a few fillets so you can't see how fresh anything is.

 

[Shayne]

Its just another example of how society is broken . We import what we do eat and export what we catch and the reason for it is only the big money can cash in on that arrangement . Same for farmers i suppose , i assume supermarkets dictate prices and all you can do is invest more for less trying to keep up ?

It's a rhetorical question really because with a 2 month time scale in mind most i have spoken to in this industry over the past two weeks seem to accept bankruptcy is a forgone conclusion .

A placid rant i suppose while lost in thoughts such as why isn't Britain's absolutely abundant lavishly varied natural wealth ever seen on school dinners ?

 

[Rob Cowell]

Its just another example of how society is broken . We import what we do eat and export what we catch and the reason for it is only the big money can cash in on that arrangement . Same for farmers i suppose , i assume supermarkets dictate prices and all you can do is invest more for less trying to keep up ?

It's a rhetorical question really because with a 2 month time scale in mind most i have spoken to in this industry over the past two weeks seem to accept bankruptcy is a forgone conclusion .

A placid rant i suppose while lost in thoughts such as why isn't Britain's absolutely abundant lavishly varied natural wealth ever seen on school dinners ?

Yes, but where can I buy fresh fish in South Wales? Probably not that viable right now but is there anywhere that sells it off the boat?

I don't think anyone fully understands what affects lamb prices, although everyone has an opinion. Certainly supermarkets have a big part in it. 2 weeks ago I'd never seen prices so high. There were cull ewes selling for £90-100 at Raglan, where I'd expect £30-40 at best. Prices are always near a peak at this time of year because most lamb is far too small, and it's expensive to feed overwinter. The rumour then was the panic buying was way outstripping supply. This week isn't bad, but it's way down on last week. So now I'm told it's because exports have dried up, but I really don't know how true that is.

 

[Shayne]

Much the same with fishing prices go up off season and shrink when we are doing well .

As for buying off the boat its illegal i would lose my licence to fish and likely land myself with a 20 grand fine and maybe a prison sentence to , unless you have a buyers licence ? If you do can you buy enough to cover my optimistically estimated £400 a day running costs ?

That's the crux of it , if it was announced that there was no food left at all right now by midnight fishermen could feed the entire nation , but as is every boat would need thousands of customers just to break even at the base rate we are paid .

Go down your nearest harbour and find a kid with a boat no licence and and nothing to lose , he can get you anything you want risking only maybe a £100 fine because he's not shackled by bureaucracy .

 

[Rob Cowell]

Much the same with fishing prices go up off season and shrink when we are doing well .

As for buying off the boat its illegal i would lose my licence to fish and likely land myself with a 20 grand fine and maybe a prison sentence to , unless you have a buyers licence ? If you do can you buy enough to cover my optimistically estimated £400 a day running costs ?

That's the crux of it , if it was announced that there was no food left at all right now by midnight fishermen could feed the entire nation , but as is every boat would need thousands of customers just to break even at the base rate we are paid .

Go down your nearest harbour and find a kid with a boat no licence and and nothing to lose , he can get you anything you want risking only maybe a £100 fine because he's not shackled by bureaucracy .

That's interesting, I'd never heard of a buyers license. Do I need one to buy less than 30Kg? This implies I may not? It also suggests it doesn't cost anything to register as a buyer.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...s-notes/buyers-and-sellers-of-first-sale-fish

Not to say anyone would think it was worth their while selling me that much. We can sell lamb direct but I never bother with less than 1/2, and even that's not really worth the hassle. It's a shame though for a product where freshness is everything for most fish.

 

[Shayne]

30kg is not quite worth 30 quid to me , i will be up all night now doing the math

 

[tonytoyota]

Hi if it has not. Looked over a hedge it is not worth eating its not for me..

 

[Rob Cowell]

30kg is not quite worth 30 quid to me , i will be up all night now doing the math

But it would be worth closer to £300 if you could sell direct.

 

[Shayne]

Quota wouldn't matter a damn to me then and in a perfect world i'd sell it happily for £150 so a visit to your local chippy would cost less while reducing the pressure on fish stocks tenfold and improving the health of everyone .

Balance not more billionaires is what the world needs .

 

[chapel gate]

Sorry Shane. Not a massive fish fan.
I do love tuna and mayo butties with a bit of salt though.

Oh, and fish finger butties..

 

[Shayne]

The mrs insists she don't like fish because her mum never cooked it , so unless its battered cod from the chippy no way .................. unless i cook myself some , if i'm quick enough i might get a taste before it gone then

 

[fbnss]

Fish is something I just never have at home. Dunno why, it's top of my list when in a restaurant

 

[Shayne]

Perhaps its the smell of it cooking rather than the taste people need acclimatized to which has me thinking of school dinners again .