Deck to Dinner, a new initiative launched in the United Kingdom last week, aims to repair damage done by years of ignorant information printed in the media, which have given the seafood industry a poor reputation according to Barry Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organizations (NFFO).
Inspiration for the initiative comes in the form of data from a survey by Research Now, which reveals that despite two thirds of us now eating fish once a week and supermarkets reporting increases in wet fish sales, 90 percent of people are only comfortable cooking familiar fish that is pre-prepared.
Deck to Dinner also builds on the latest research from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which shows there has been a “dramatic reduction in fishing pressure” across North Atlantic commercial fish stocks as a result of strict management plans. The data show that between 2006 and 2015, the number of stocks fished at Maximum Sustainable Yield, which is seen as the gold standard of sustainability, increased from two to 36.
“We have been working with chefs for a while now, asking them to create recipes using underutilized species of sustainably sourced seafood, to prove they are just as versatile as the seafood staples. The aim is to get the media and the public to understand that there are sustainable and tasty alternatives to eating salmon, cod, haddock, tuna and prawns, which account for over 70 percent of all U.K. seafood sales,” explained Deas.
“Such was the success of our hake promotion with chef Mitch Tonks in 2014 and our Twitter-based Catch of the Day initiative in March this year, that we decided to launch Deck to Dinner this month, which is being fronted by Masterchef presenter and celebrity food writer Gregg Wallace.”
Deck to Dinner is promoting the “Magnificent Seven of Sustainable Seafood” – crab, megrim, plaice, coley, mackerel, hake and gurnard – and Wallace and a team of six nationally recognized, award winning chefs have been tasked with producing non-cheffy, easy-to-cook recipes using these species.
The first dishes were cooked up in front of the media and fishermen from around the United Kingdom, at an event in Billingsgate market (pictured, file photo) at the end of last week.
“There was a wonderful level of interest in the event and Gregg and I did 20 different interviews, so we hope to see some positive stories coming out on the airwaves and in the press,” said Deas.
“We intertwined the sustainability angle with the fact that there are so many species in the United Kingdom that are underutilized and unappreciated, whereas our neighbors on the continent can’t get enough of them. The main point of our message was to say ‘have a look at something new and here are some recipes on our website to get you started.’ Who knows, there may even be a book in it!” he added.
Three Cornish fishermen, all members of the Cornish Fish Producers Organization (CFPO), attended the event to share their seafood expertise with the chefs. James Chown, Tom McClure and Andrew Pascoe have been fishing for most of their lives, and catch a diverse range of species. They were amazed to find that some of the chefs were cooking with fish they had never handled before.
“The launch event was an interesting experience, and I was surprised to find that megrim is so little known, even among the professionals. When Gregg Wallace tasted megrim, he declared that it was better than Dover sole. And it costs less than half the price,” said Tom McClure of the Harvest Reaper.
Wallace was delighted to be involved with the initiative, and keen to demonstrate to the public the breadth and variety of sustainable seafood offered by the U.K. fleet.
“Fish is one of the healthiest and tastiest food options out there and hopefully through Deck to Dinner people will find a new and unusual favorite. Some of the fish we are working with are at the more affordable end of the market, which means people’s taste buds, wallets and conscience will benefit from eating them,” he said.
According to Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the CFPO and president of the NFFO, more than eight million kilograms of fish is eaten every week by U.K. adults, and this is predicted to increase to over nine million kilos by 2026, so there is much work to be done to ensure that U.K.-caught species have a fair representation.
Recipes are available to download at (http://nffo.org.uk/responsible-fishing/deck-to-dinner )
