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Waitrose to only sell line caught cod


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Waitrose have announced they will only sell line caught cod from now on.

 

In 1999 they initially said they would no longer sell North Sea cod and haddock due to concerns over declining stocks and overfishing and then switched to sourcing fish from Iceland. They hailed their move yesterday as another step forward in efforts to safeguard dwindling North Sea supplies.

 

The commercial sea fishing organisations have immediately retorted by saying that conservation is not the supermarkets real objective it's just a marketing effort to meet customer demand. Personally I think that if conservation is enhanced by meeting customer demand, then that's no bad thing.

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Waitrose have announced they will only sell line caught cod from now on.

 

In 1999 they initially said they would no longer sell North Sea cod and haddock due to concerns over declining stocks and overfishing and then switched to sourcing fish from Iceland. They hailed their move yesterday as another step forward in efforts to safeguard dwindling North Sea supplies.

 

The commercial sea fishing organisations have immediately retorted by saying that conservation is not the supermarkets real objective it's just a marketing effort to meet customer demand. Personally I think that if conservation is enhanced by meeting customer demand, then that's no bad thing.

:clap2: I agree absolutely. If it saves fish then does it really matter whether it's a marketing ploy or a genuine conservation effort. Unfortunately it won't save any fish as the commercials will still target them and sell them as fishmeal if a buyer cannot be found. :2:

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B)-->

QUOTE(Norm B @ Apr 14 2006, 09:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:clap2: I agree absolutely. If it saves fish then does it really matter whether it's a marketing ploy or a genuine conservation effort. Unfortunately it won't save any fish as the commercials will still target them and sell them as fishmeal if a buyer cannot be found. :2:

 

Quite probably so but I think it will be to a limited extent as the returns won't be as good and the demand from the fishmeal industry may be somewhat limited as they appreciate that as an industry they are not really viewed in too good a light at times and do not like to attract unwanted attention.

 

Both European and international fishmeal producers’ organisations have said that the fishmeal industry does not want over-fishing or high by-catches, it wants a sustainable supply of raw material and that it is the public, through politicians, who decide how we balance the different concepts of wealth and value – be they fish into the food chain or preservation of species and diversity in the marine environment – and establish the regulations and that they will respect those rules.

 

How respecting rules translates in reality is, of course, the acid test.

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B)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Norm B @ Apr 14 2006, 09:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->

:clap2: I agree absolutely. If it saves fish then does it really matter whether it's a marketing ploy or a genuine conservation effort. Unfortunately it won't save any fish as the commercials will still target them and sell them as fishmeal if a buyer cannot be found. :2:

Quite probably so but I think it will be to a limited extent as the returns won't be as good and the demand from the fishmeal industry may be somewhat limited as they appreciate that as an industry they are not really viewed in too good a light at times and do not like to attract unwanted attention.

 

Both European and international fishmeal producers’ organisations have said that the fishmeal industry does not want over-fishing or high by-catches, it wants a sustainable supply of raw material and that it is the public, through politicians, who decide how we balance the different concepts of wealth and value – be they fish into the food chain or preservation of species and diversity in the marine environment – and establish the regulations and that they will respect those rules.

 

How respecting rules translates in reality is, of course, the acid test.

:clap2: In an ideal world that would go without saying but in an imperfect world we shall all have to keep our eyes and ears open. :clap2:
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Sounds like the retailers are listening to public opinion.

Public opinion is the only way to change the direction of consumers, and my worry is that most of the public are not awear of marine conservation. Any how its a move in the right direction!

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Sounds like the retailers are listening to public opinion.

Public opinion is the only way to change the direction of consumers, and my worry is that most of the public are not awear of marine conservation. Any how its a move in the right direction!

 

Sam - I think it's an circular argument as to whether public opinion or fashion is the greater driver of consumer purchasing, as though both can separately drive it, quite often the two are inextricably linked.

 

Fashion, in the shape of "Sea Bass" on the menu, has caused no end of debate on here with all the argument about MLS etc,.

 

The simple truth is, the restaurant owners and consumers view it as a fish to be served as a plate sized whole or fillet. Served whole, single servings require a fish of around 450 gms, and for two, a fish of 700-900 gms. Excluding illegals, the former are generally farmed fish from Greece or Portugal; the latter are generally 'wild' fish.

 

Now public opinion has, follwing BSE, Foot and Mouth, net caught dolphins etc, etc, started to move towards sustainability and traceability and fashion is following that with low fat, organics, green products, additive free etc.

 

Suppliers targeting these consumers sell using sentences like : The 100% organic prepackaged items are reared in environmentally sustainable conditions and never come into contact with any dyes, pesticides or chemicals and are harvested with the minimum of stress.

 

No matter how much old fashioned industries or individuals may argue, the general public does not want to think that they are responsible for anything, and for that which they are consuming, that it will be easily replaced.

 

Probably the simpliest way to get the public to reject eating bass or threatened species, would be for one of the TV investigative journalists to do an expose on the methods, levels of waste through by-catch, impact on dolphins etc. That would quickly achieve more than all the legislation ever introduced.

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