reLAKSation 453
Eat more fish: It’s now a year since the Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead announced plans to get more Scottish consumers eating more Scottish fish. We are reminded now of Mr Lochhead’s plans because one of the events that he supported was the promotion of seafood at the Taste Festival in Edinburgh. This year’s same event just happens to be taking place again this weekend. The Minister’s wish for more Scottish consumers to eat more Scottish fish is also brought to mind following our comments in the last issue of reLAKSation concerning the shortage of Scottish salmon in the UK market due to more fish being sent abroad to overseas markets. It’s not so easy to ask consumers to eat more Scottish salmon if it’s all being sent for export.
According to the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation salmon exports jumped by 24% to 65,480 tonnes in 2009. Of this 24,000 tonnes were sent to the USA, an increase of 50% on 2008. Yet at the same time, production has only grown by an estimated 3.5% which is why there is such a shortage of Scottish salmon. Production is forecast to continue to grow between 3 and 5% a year so these shortages look set to continue for some years to come, unless there is a distinct change in the marketplace such as would occur with the resurgence of Chilean salmon in the US market. Unless demand in the US can be significantly stimulated, the US will become a battleground with price as the weapon of choice. Scottish producers will simply be unable to compete expect in the specialist niche markets. This could lead to an increased availability of Scottish salmon in the UK market.
Meanwhile, the Scottish market is not without salmon. It is just that whilst Scottish consumers will be able to eat more salmon, it just won’t be Scottish. Last year, Norway exported 46,749 tonnes equivalent of salmon to the UK. How much was destined for sale in Scotland is unclear but it is no secret that retailers are selling Norwegian (and previously even Chilean) salmon in the heart of the salmon growing industry. What is of surprise is that this large volume of Norwegian imports is not a new phenomenon in response to the problems in Chile since, according to the Norwegian Seafood Export Council, the scale of exports has remained relatively stable for at least the last five years. What this means is that Scottish salmon exports are being matched by Norwegian imports. Although, the UK is the second largest salmon producing nation in Europe, it has to import salmon to meet local demand. Scottish salmon producers are simply not producing enough salmon to satisfy both local and export markets and to do so would require a production increase of 35%. This increase does not include the extra required so that Scottish consumers can eat much more as Mr Lochhead hopes.
The reason for this emphasis on the export market rather than the one at home is simple. The Scottish industry believes that overseas consumers have a better perception of Scottish salmon as a premium product than those in the UK. This is the exact same perception that the Scottish industry also wants to promote however many UK consumers (in common with many others in the export markets) simply want a piece of salmon that is good to eat and that represents the best possible value for money. Origin isn’t such an issue. This is why the SSPO have had to ditch the Tartan Quality Mark in the UK. It represents values that are not particularly of interest to many consumers. Of course, some UK consumers want to buy Scottish salmon produced to the highest possible quality and are willing to pay more to buy it. They are part of a small niche market in the same way as the market for Label Rouge salmon in France. Last year, Scotland exported only 7,521 tonnes of Label Rouge salmon to France.
Mr Lochhead is keen for Scottish consumers to eat more Scottish salmon. However, this is only going to happen if Scottish producers start to produce more fish and these fish are promoted as the ones that consumers want to buy.
Sustainable lunch: The Times newspaper says that if a coalition is good enough for the government, then it should be good enough for local restaurants. Mark Sainsbury of the Zetter Hotel, home to the Bistrot Bruno Loubet, has set up the Sustainable Restaurant Association whose aim is to project UK restaurants as global leaders in sustainability, supporting local, seasonal produce and fair trade as well as engaging with the local community, becoming more energy efficient and cutting waste. The idea is for restaurants to work together in local hubs, pooling resources and giving a boost to local producers.
The association already has a defined its values and has laid down a charter of actions. This includes a section on sourcing sustainable fish consisting of three main points – only source MSC certified fish; only use fish from the MCS ‘Fish to Eat’ list and only buy herbivorous farmed fish e.g. tilapia and basa (pangasius).
Oh dear! They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. This Charter is going to turn into a real nightmare for this association.
Firstly, it is worth taking a look at the menu at the Zetter’s restaurant to see how well it complies with the charter. The menu listed for Bistrot Bruno Loubet includes two contentious dishes. These are skate terrine and salmon confit. The MCS ‘fish to avoid’ list recommends that all skate should be avoided as they are rated as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union. The picture for salmon is different since the menu doesn’t state whether the salmon is wild or farmed or organic. The MCS recommend wild Pacific salmon or organically farmed Atlantic salmon.
Yet, SRA members will not have to make a choice as all farmed salmon, whether organic or not, are to be avoided because salmon are not herbivorous. It is unclear where this leaves wild salmon since they are carnivorous but eat the same sorts of small wild fish that are used to feed farmed salmon. This dilemma is easily resolved since most wild Pacific salmon are not truly wild but are hatchery raised and are fed on the same feeds as farmed salmon. Wild salmon should therefore be avoided too.
Presumably the concern about sourcing carnivorous fish relates to the question of the fishmeal used in fish feeds. The Sustainable Restaurant Associations’ Charter states that members must try to source 20% more meat from Freedom Food or free range sources. Hopefully, the rest will not be sourced from chicken and pigs that have been fed feeds containing the same fishmeal fed to farmed carnivorous fish (a significant proportion of fishmeal is still used in terrestrial farming).
However, SRA members can still have a clear conscience by following the Charter and sourcing herbivorous fish such as tilapia and basa. Whilst, these fish may be herbivorous in the wild the fish available in the marketplace have not been fed an herbivorous diet. Herbivorous fish, in common with other herbivorous animals require very large quantities of vegetable matter to grow. In the same way that beef cattle are given protein supplements to grow faster, so are herbivorous fish. The more intensively the fish are farmed, the more protein is required, although not quite to the same level as carnivorous fish. This means that most herbivorous fish are fed a manufactured feed in common with other aquaculture species.
What is it with the sustainability lobby that it accepts that chicken, pigs and beef must be farmed but is so against the idea of fish farming, especially when it can remove much of the fishing pressure on wild stocks?