We are repeatedly asked the question: "Which fish am I actually still allowed to eat?" The answer is not simple, but highly complex, as there are many parameters to consider and weigh up. A thoroughly acceptable fish guide has now become available. However, even this well-intentioned guide contains pitfalls.
Let us work our way through its recommendations and the problems that nevertheless persist:
- Flounder, plaice and dab caught with fyke nets can indeed be sustainable. Fyke net fishing is sustainable as long as the nets are not lost.
- Wild salmon is extremely rare and, moreover, has become quite expensive in retail. Consumers must look closely to identify one of the two species that are still recommended. It is a pity for every wild salmon that is no longer swimming through the ocean and thus enriching the declining populations (caused, among other things, by salmon aquaculture farming).
- Herring is severely overfished. This makes it difficult for consumers to find exactly the two remaining sustainable fishing grounds in retail.
- The same applies to saithe and Iberian horse mackerel.
- For skipjack tuna and albacore, identification usually fails due to the precise descriptions on the packaging. Non-sustainable longline fishing is often (out of economic self-interest) confused with sustainable pole and line fishing. Consumers indeed struggle to find the exact sustainable products in front of a metre-wide supermarket shelf full of tuna and skipjack. Furthermore, tuna is heavily contaminated with methylmercury.
- Blue mussels from rope culture not only pose the risk of microplastics in the muscle tissue; the rope attachment itself also frequently introduces microplastics into the water.
Critical consumers must therefore rely on the expertise of the staff at the fish counter or the text on the packaging. Are you unsure? Do you have doubts about the clarity of the fishmongers' statements or the description on the packaging? If in doubt: do not buy!
The new fish guide:
https://www.vzhh.de/guter-fisch-liste
https://www.vzhh.de/sites/default/files/medien/136/dokumente/Verbraucherzentrale-Hamburg_Guter-Fisch-Liste_2023-2024_Web.pdf
