United Kingdom fishmonger business Cormacks Seafood has introduced its latest product, handmade fish fingers.
Made from fresh pollock that has been line-caught by small-scale, artisan boats from Devon, the fish fingers are processed and packed close to port. Each is hand-filleted and processed by local workers.
According to Cormacks’ owner, Aarik Persaud, the product is the only packaged fish finger to exclusively use wild, British fish, with the pollock coming from healthy stocks.
In a press release, Persaud states that the product is targeted at consumers who love seafood and fish fingers, but cannot bring themselves to buy or feed their family the mass-produced ones available in the supermarket.
“Our product gives customers the peace of mind that they are buying something ethical, natural and locally made,” Persaud said.
Cormacks also identifies the importance of differentiating between seafood caught by local small-scale fishing vessels and large industrial fishing fleets, Persaud said.
“Industrial fishing is well recognized as one of the major drivers of the ocean crisis. Shaped by habitat destruction, high levels of by-catch, and a large carbon footprint caused by worldwide shipping, industrial fishing is also helping to drive the climate crisis,” he said. “Small-scale fishers, on the other hand, generally use low-impact fishing practices, which don’t indiscriminately harm ocean life. They also catch smaller numbers of a wider variety of species, allowing fish stocks to remain healthy and sustainable. For small-scale fishers it is imperative that they look after their small patch of sea. Their livelihoods demand it.”
Cormacks was founded in 2018, with the launch of its own “more sustainable” version of a can of tuna, and a range of line-caught mackerel marinated in sauces and oils.
Last year it opened an independent fish shop in Totnes, where it sells only locally landed species, and omits all of the U.K.’s top five most consumed seafood species of haddock, cod, tuna, salmon and warmwater shrimp.
