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Fish & Chips are Future-Proof UK Food Favourite

Fish & Chips are Future-Proof UK Food Favourite
18th January 2017 Smales

Fish & Chips are Future-Proof UK Food Favourite

 

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As a leading supplier of frozen fish across the UK, Smales is a founding member of Fasfa (Frozen At Sea Fillets Association) and continually supports the longevity of providing sustainable cod to fish & chip shops across the country.

 

Fasfa have recently released a video and associated press release surrounding the nations favourite takeaway:

 

“We eat more cod in the UK than any other white fish. It’s succulent white flakes, and meaty sweet flavour makes it popular for both cooking at home and in fish & chip shops, pubs and restaurants.

 

“Despite recent fears, the supply of high quality, sustainable cod to British fish & chip shops is unaffected either by climate change or Brexit as well over 90% of the cod we eat is imported from outside the EU. Fasfa has produced a short film to explain this…

“While the North Sea undoubtedly will prove a political hotbed as regards to future British fishing rights outside the EU and has seen the impact of warming sea temperatures on fish stocks over the last century, it is of limited significance to our hunger for long-term cod supplies.

 

“The UK quota for North Sea cod is only 13,100 tonnes and we need more than ten times that just to supply our fish & chip shops. The Barents Sea alone has a total allowable catch of 890,000 tonnes compared with only 15,353 tonnes landed by British vessels in 2015 into local ports. The overall supply of Atlantic cod is forecasted to remain about the same in 2017 as 2015/16. Around 70% of imported cod is caught in the Barents Sea, with 25% from well managed Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian and Russian waters.

 

“The major part (63%) of this international supply is imported as frozen fillets and much of this are top-quality frozen-at-sea fillets. Here, fish is harvested by fishing boats equipped with modern on-board processing and freezing machinery and highly trained operators so that the finished product is frozen into ready-to-use fillets within four to five hours of catching. Only this process can provide the consistent quality demanded by our best fish & chip shops.”

John Rutherford

 

About Fasfa

 

Fasfa is the Frozen at Sea (FAS) Fish Association, a UK based company representing the interests of those who catch fish in the North Atlantic then process that fish into fillets on-board the catching vessel and immediately freeze those fillets into the form which ultimately will be used in fish & chip shops throughout the country. Consistent high quality and 12 month availability mean that more than nine out of ten of all fish & chip shops depend entirely on FAS fillets and virtually every fish & chip shop will use fish at some time or other during the year.