Webchat with Waitrose fish experts, Mon 22 June, 1-2pm

[GeraldineMumsnet]

As some of you may already know, our friends at Waitrose are sponsoring the film The End of the Line, which is all about ocean sustainability and the dangers of over-fishing.

And on Monday (22 June, 1-2pm), Quentin Clark and Neil Nugent from Waitrose will be joining us for a live webchat all about fish.

Neil is an executive chef at Waitrose and will no doubt have lots of lovely fish recipes up his corporate sleeve. Quentin is Waitrose's fish buyer and knows all there is to know about responsible fishing (and fish-eating).

We hope you'll join us for the chat on Monday but, as ever, if you can't (or you can't wait), please post your advance questions here.

For Doyouthinktheysaurus
Are certain types of fish more sustainable than others? Definitely- but its down to where it comes from too. Cod is great from Iceland or Norway but not from the North Sea for example. Good thing to check is the list from fishonline.org which lists all the fish recomendations from the Marine Conservation Society.

I'd like to know about not stinking the whole house out too - if it's poss.

'Cod is great from Norway, but not the North Sea'? Is there some other secret sea that Norway have then or am I being thick?

Could you have a look at sophable's posts about salmon please? Very important questions there. TBH we all know how to put a sauce on some fish and to ask you guys to bone etc etc. The big issues are the MN issues...

Agree - the assistants are your USP in this area and in the other bits of your store - all seem to be "nice young men" here .

Also love the foil spacebags. Great for freezing

On -"smelling the house out" if the fish is fresh- it shouldn't be too smelly- although things like smoked fish can be bit smelly- best to poach fish gently or "en papillote" which is cooked in a seeled bag in the oven- we sell our fish in bags of our counter- it a brilliant and simple method. N

wild cod isn't 'great' from anywhere.

yes it is better in terms of sustainability from those areas, but the species is under global threat. far better to promote other kinds of white fish.

WHat is with the trendy new butters Neil? I havent tried them but they solve the " how do I cook this" issue

"Greenpeace requests stronger regulations in Norwegian fisheries, in particular to minimize the by-catch of threatened redfish, halibut and coastal cod in the cod fisheries."

cod, tuna (certainly anything but skipjack), farmed salmon. shouldn't really be on your shelves should they?

do you think Mark Price needs to eat more fish a little bit?

and runs...

I should make very clear that I'm a longstanding mumsnetter, belong to no lobbying group. I happen to be married to someone that is passionate about what he sees (quite rightly) as the disaster unfolding in terms of our seas. He has read 'the end of the line' as well as numerous other well researched books on the subject. we talk about it a lot.

just to clarify where I'm coming from.

to Sophable
There is a lot of discussion about farmed fish and is it good or bad. The main isses are environmental, welfare and sustainability.
A lot of care is taken to make sure that the sites are in areas that have high tidal flow so that it is kept clean and actually the fish have to swim -that keeps them lean and fit. Welfare at Waitrose is a key priority and we stock with fewer fish to give them plenty of room. The whole thing about the environmental siting really helps too. Sustainability of the feed is next. We have similar principles for the sustainability of the feed as we do for our fish for sale. One thing we wont do is to take out the marine ingredients and replace with vegetable materials. Why? Salmon are carnivores and it is better for them and we want the omega 3 to be there when you eat the fish later.

Ref: HUFWARDLY RUDGE- can you eat fish eyes and tongues: Yes you can- though eyes are pretty grim- the tongues are delicious as are cheeks- they go for a real premium in some countries- I once cooked at the Cod museum in Bergen and my starter was Tongue and cheek- with persillade (Parsley dressing)> N

I did cry at the tuna programme on South Pacific the other day. Horrific industrial fishing methods.

Line fishing good all round.

hmm, sense a bit of avoiding the issue there Quentin...

your 'marine ingredients' are baby fish. 3lb of them for every 1 lb of farmed salmon produced. your 'marine ingredients' are part of the sustainability problem of the wider seas aren't they?

your producers still use SLICE and other highly toxic chemicals in order to keep the salmon from being covered in lice.

your producers still dye the flesh of the farmed salmon in order that the naturally grey appearance is disguised.

please don't fob me off in this way.

to Squid ward- The new butters are great, along with the foil bags- they do solve a problem- easy to cook and they very gently steam the fish. N

Quentin, thanks for that, but you haven't really addressed the issue of the health risk posed by farmed salmon. Do you believe that farmed salmon does not pose any risk to health?

in short your farmed salmon is still no safer to eat more than once a month (for an adult) as described in the 2004 study below.

why are you justifying it? surely better to educate and increase your sales of wild alaskan salmon?

Looking at fish species in general.
I dont want to continually advertise our offer but all the fish we sell meets our criteria for sustainability but.... we also encourage people to look around and try new species. Great for the cooking repetoire and helps to take any pressure off. Why not try Whiting, Pollack or coley as a change from cod? Tilapia is a great fish and is farmed using mainly vegetarian food because it is a vegetarian fish.

imagine the market share among MNers middle class educated lentil-weavers if you had sophable as your fish head (see what I did there?)

No. But seriously. We would buy more.

i buy fish at a london waitrose every week. and i am just not seeing the range of sustainably sourced fish which there could be - just a bit of whiting, ocasionally some mackerel. otherwise it is all farmed or cod, haddock etc.

can you tell us about your plans to introduce more variety.

and you haven't mentioned the catastrophe that is chilean seabass, nor addressed the issue of tuna.

you're on here puporting to be promoting sustainability!

the fact that you are far better than any other supermarket in this respect is a bit of a pyrrhic (sp?) victory. it needs acknowledging but doesn't get you off the hook.

Now i have met sophable and her head looked perfectly normal to me.