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.

Quentin/Neil, is there anything at all you can say that might persuade mumsnetters to feed your beautifully packaged but apparently toxic farmed salmon to our children?

Theunstrungharp
Farmed salmon does not pose any risk to health. In fact the benefits of the omega 3 far outweigh any possible concerns over the past issues of PCBs etc which have been present in all foods in minute and decreasing amounts following action in the 1980s to limit the industrial processes responsible.

Hello
I get my groceries delivered (ocado) as I work q long hours and live in a fairly rural area (so no Nigella-esque fishmonger round the corner).

I therefore don't get to see the "nice young men" at teh counter and ask for filleting and to know what's freshest.
What is best way to try new fish for someone restricted in this way?

now you have a fish head

Quentin, the study that recommended eating farmed salmon no more than once a month was from 2004, not the 1980's

Other species are Mackerel and Sardines- simple to cook and and prepare- simply grill them or this time of year they go well on the BBQ- once cooked-they scream for lemon juice and freshly ground pepper. N

Mrs SeanBean
How do you tell if a fish is fresh?
Fresh fish does not smell, it has clean clear eyes and red ( not brown) gills. In fact sometimes people complain of a lack of flavour from very fresh fish - so you can keep it a bit longer if you like. Our cod was swimming on Monday if you buy on Thursday.

oh dont say that , that makes me feel rather sad for it!

Hi, I think it is great that Waitrose is sponsoring this film and find that Waitrose does stock more sustainably sourced fish than my other local supermarkets (I live in the Greater London area).

Having said that I still find that there is not the range that I am looking for, the usual suspects of cod, salmon and haddock seem to be the norm. There are wonderful fish in our waters and it seems that a lot of the good stuff is still being sold to France and Spain - where are the langoustine and local prawns for example?

Does Waitrose have plans to change this?

TheUnstrungaharp
Sorry I was not referring to that - Just the industrial processes current in the 1980s were responsible for the background level of PCBs etc in the environment. They are now 25% less than then and will halve again in the next 10 years. Levels are very low and we carefully monitor levels to make sure we are ok.

What is an OK level of PCBs in fish then? And what consequences of those levels are there?

To ChampagneSupernova-
You can get filleted fish which can be boneless and very easy to prepare- salmon fillets for example can be seared and served in minutes- with a rocket salad- or try our mackerel fillets- cooked with a little butter and lemon- finished with caper berries and finely shallots.N

minimarmite i said exactly the same thing a bit earlier. it is all very well recommdening we buy mackerel and sardines but you have to stock the sodding things neil.

MiniMarmite
We take fish from anywhere that meets our strict quality and sustainabilty criteria. We are taking great seabass from Wales for example and have lots of fish from Cornwall. We love new sources of fish and constantly look out for them. We will have a look at your suggestions.

A survey in 2004 which is five years ago (so your argument that this has been falling to negligible levels since the 80s) in Science (a respected peer reviewed journal suggests you are very wrong about this.

if you mean it is fine for an adult to eat a half to one portion of farmed salmon once a month then please qualify your response accordingly.

PCBs do not biodegrade. The point is that they are present in farmed salmon in extremely concentrated levels (remember the 3lb of baby fish to 1 lb of farmed fish?). Besides the PCBs, farmed salmon contain relatively high levels of antibiotics (they are prone to disease as salmon are a fast running fish that travel thousands of kilometers in the wild, it isn't surprising that stocking them in cages causes problems is it).

the Anti-licing treatments which ALL farmed salmon are treated with are described by the manufacturers as toxic to marine life.

I guess the least of it is the dye that you use to turn the grey flaccid flesh a palatable (?) orange.

Please don't mislead in this way.

to Flappythebat- Talapia does need a bit help to bring out the flavour- I find seared and finished with lime juice, little chilli and coriander works well. serve with steamed rice and pak choy, N

sprats. i'd like to see them.

Why do you now call skate "Ray" (yes know that skate is ray) and is it overfished?

moving on (as i feel like a stuck record and you are clearly not going to address my concerns on farmed salmon in any way), when is waitrose going to clearly label all of it's fish with precise (easy to read, same sized print as everything else) species (for example not just 'tuna' but 'skipjack' or 'yellowtail') and specify how it was caught and where (NOT where it was processed).

I find I have to ask whether fish is farmed (trout, seabass) invariably at your fish counter. the answer sadly is usually that it is.

Thank you :-) some prawns from Norfolk would be just lovely!

I do feel quite concerned about the large amount of prawns available from far-flung places where working conditions are reported to be extremely poor. What is Waitrose's approach when sourcing this type of product.

LupusinaLlamasuit
I will post a detailed response after the webchat as I don't have the exact numbers or web references to hand.

yes skate is overfished. i thought that waitrose had stopped stocking it (doh emoticon).

Sorry, missed out the '?'

Lilymaid
Skate ( The common Skate) is endangered and we dont sell it. We do sell ray species that are not are sustainable and that is why we have changed the name to Ray so that customers know they are ok to buy.