Inspiration

Balancing the scales

It's important to include fish in your diet, but no one wants to damage the marine environment. Diana Henry looks at sustainability, and CJ Jackson suggests easy fish dishes.

As a nation, we seem to be scared of cooking fish. The rules about meat are simple - you just have to remember what each cut is good for. But fish? They're a whole different kettle. And now there are greater anxieties than how long it takes to poach a salmon. I stand at the ice-encrusted fish counter, dazzled by the beauty of the glistening scales, but I can't actually remember which fish are okay to eat. I can enjoy Icelandic cod because it's from a sustainable source, but didn't I hear that tuna was a no-no? And isn't monkfish over-fished? What I hadn't realised is that at the Waitrose fish counter every fish is from a sustainable source. Guaranteed. Jeremy Ryland Langley, Waitrose specialist fish buyer, approaches matters piscine not only with his buyer's hat on - because he is trying to buy the best - but with his ecologist's and environmentalist's hats, too.

Environmentally sound

A decade ago, Jeremy hatched a plan to ensure that all Waitrose fish came from sustainable sources. Some varieties - such as wild Atlantic salmon - have disappeared from the counter altogether. Others have been re-sourced. All fresh tuna, for example, now comes from the Indian and Pacific Oceans instead of the Mediterranean, where stocks are threatened - and it is yellow fin, not the over-fished blue fin variety. All Waitrose cod and haddock, species that are seriously under threat in British waters, come from Icelandic seas. The Marine Conservation Society www.msc.org praises Waitrose for being the UK retailer to stock the largest number of fish from its recommended 'Fish to Eat' list.

There are so many different fishing methods - line-caught, beam trawled, Danish seine - that I'm confused about which are environmentally safe. Again, Waitrose is committed to using the least damaging methods. Beam trawling, for example, involves pulling a heavy chain across the sea bed. Not only is it bad ecologically, but it can also result in a lot of other species being caught in the net. Waitrose suppliers are currently converting to the Danish seine method, where ropes are used instead of chains. In fact, where appropriate, Waitrose chooses line-caught fish - and currently sells the largest range of line-caught fish in the UK. With this method, a long line, baited at intervals, is used. The only potential problem with this is that birds can get caught on the hooks. Jeremy has thought of that, too. The boats supplying Waitrose use equipment, such as acoustic scarers, to deter sea birds.

Fully traceable

Waitrose sells 55 different kinds of fish, and shellfish from 25 countries. As a sceptical shopper, I wonder how they can keep track of where and how they are caught. A chat with Keith Brown from Sealord in Humberside, which supplies Waitrose with Icelandic fish, makes me feel better. 'Icelanders know fish are their livelihood and that over-fishing means the destruction of that livelihood. I know every family that fishes for me and I know where every single box of fish comes from.' Other suppliers have to do the same - full traceability is the name of the game. Fresh sardines, for example, are caught for Waitrose by eight named boats in Cornish coastal waters using traditional methods.

This leaves me with just two remaining anxieties: farmed fish and, another environmental worry, food miles. Jeremy points out that, due to sustainability problems, many of the fish sold have to be imported from other countries, but he is still concerned about food miles. Here's his dilemma: should he source locally caught fish from unsustainable stocks, or buy sustainable fish from further afield?

Successful farming

Fish farming has had a bad press. Yet if we want to eat fish, we have to accept that some of it is farmed. As Jeremy says, 'There is nothing wrong with fish farming, except bad fish farming.' He is particularly proud of Waitrose Select Farm Salmon. It comes only from farms with low stocking levels, situated in clean waters with strong tidal flows, far from wild salmon rivers.

Cook with confidence

Despite being a food writer, I'm as nervous of buying 'new' varieties of fish as anyone else. And I'm reluctant, despite the friendly staff in my local Waitrose, to ask for advice. What I didn't know is that Waitrose fish specialists really can help because they are all trained at London's Billingsgate Seafood Training School. Not only can they gut, clean and fillet fish, they also know how to cook every variety they stock. I go to the capital's Mill Hill branch to put this to the test. Fish specialist Maria Michael tells me where every fish on her counter comes from, what size fillet I need for one person and which herbs are good with tuna. What she doesn't know, she checks in her fish 'bible'. She also gives me recipe ideas from a huge file. Maria gets asked loads of questions every day, and relishes the challenge of keeping up with customers' needs. In future, I'll be asking more questions at my local fish counter.

So, pearly white Icelandic cod? A couple of lovely Greek sea bream? I'm glad I can buy without worrying. As Jeremy says, 'It's not simple. Wild fish are a diminishing resource, the cost of fuel is going up and the environment is constantly embattled. But so long as we are mindful of our responsibility, of how and what we fish, I think we can manage to square it.' I'll have the cod and the sea bream then, please.

Fish facts

Cod and haddock
Waitrose line-caught cod and haddock come from sustainable stocks off Iceland. Both take well to many different kinds of cooking and flavours. Cod is great to roast. Brush with olive oil, season well with sea salt and black pepper, then cook in the oven. Serve with parsley sauce or salsa verde.

Tuna
Meaty tuna can be cooked rare like a steak. Cook on a griddle pan for charred stripes and serve with a strongly flavoured relish made with avocado, chilli, tomato and fresh coriander.

Mackerel and sardines
Sales of oily fish such as mackerel and sardines have shot up, so the message about its health benefits is definitely getting through. Fresh Cornish sardines will be available in branch from June to September.

The government recommends we eat at least two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily.

For more fish facts, including cooking instructions, click onto waitrose.com/fish

This article was first published in Seasons in March 2007