I’ve always loved fish. I gave up meat and poultry primarily on financial grounds, but it wasn’t long before I resolved never again to eat the flesh of poorly-reared, chemically-pumped animals. I didn’t even like the taste that much anyway.
For some reason fish never crossed the morally-dubious threshold, despite clearly being alive in a way vegetables just aren’t. I love bream, haddock, sardines, sea bass, mackerel and salmon, but I probably love tuna the most. I love a good piece of fish from the market, but the reality of my wallet means tinned tuna is the easiest and cheapest way for me to get my regular dose of brain food.
I was naïve enough for a while to think the fish I was eating had been caught traditionally: the fish happily living and breeding; the fisherman happening upon them. I thought it was just the food chain, but now I probably won’t touch tuna ever again.
While the endangered bluefin tuna species used for sushi may not be the kind that ends up in my pasta, its plight (and that of its slightly less endangered but still over-fished cousin, the yellowfin) has resulted in questions being asked about the fishing methods used to catch the more common, tinned skipjack tuna. The fish are caught using a method called ‘purse seine’, which means the net spanning a large area of the sea closes like a purse to entrap everything unfortunate enough to have swum near. The nets go deep, which means it’s not just surface-skimming skipjack that is caught: bluefin tuna is routinely ‘accidentally’ caught and then disposed of and even sharks and dolphins can become entangled and die. The delicate balance of all ocean wildlife is at stake because of our insatiable demand for fish.
Marks & Spencer recently became the first supermarket to switch to only selling tuna caught by the less intrusive and more sustainable pole-and-line method, and other large companies have followed suit, including sandwich chain Prêt a Manger. Its co-founder says he was made aware of the plight of fish after watching documentary The End of the Line, billed as ‘the world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of over-fishing’. I haven’t seen it, but it’s clear the film has had serious and lasting repercussions.
So why I am concerned? Soon, all supermarkets and probably all major brands will only sell pole-and-line caught skipjack tuna. And I don’t eat sushi, so the bluefin is off my conscience. But while this method of fishing is more sustainable, the fact remains that tuna is still being consumed at an alarming rate. Why must we stubbornly insist on continuing to eat something that’s in grave danger of upsetting the environment with its disappearance?
For me, the only other option is a move to full-blown vegetarianism. This has already proven harder than anticipated, particularly after a traffic-congested drive to London on Monday morning. I was starving and picked up some paninis for my Dad and myself during a break: one tuna melt, one mozzarella. I have no idea why I didn’t just pick two mozzarella ones; I suppose I wanted to provide my Dad with a choice and secretly hoped he’d pick tuna. But he immediately pounced on the vegetarian one and I kept my mouth shut because he’d paid and was doing the driving. I felt sick with hunger but with every bite my recent discoveries sickened me further. I finished it, but from now on I think I’ll stick to appreciating the delicacy of seafood from a considerate, rather than culinary, perspective.
WORDS BY STEPHANIE POTTER
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE BBC
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