Concern over supplements is not cod

SALES of fish-oil supplements have soared boosted by claims that they can increase longevity, help curb disease and even improve children’s behaviour.

But, there’s a dilemma for fish consumers — should they put their health, which they believe to be aided by oily fish rich in omega 3 nutrients, before the wellbeing of diminishing fish stocks, globally?

In Ireland, fishermen are being encouraged to broaden whitefish activities to ease the pressure on over- fished species, such as cod and monkfish. Yet, there must not be a house in the country without cod liver oil in some form. The purveyors tell us it helps maintain health, including mobile and supple joints, as well as enhancing the heart and circulation.

In Britain, the Marine Conservation Society is warning consumers to avoid more than 30 types of fish because of fears about over-fishing. It has produced a guide spelling out which fish to avoid, including Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, Atlantic salmon, haddock, plaice and tuna.

It also lists more than 30 types of fish which consumers are urged to choose, but gives its best choice label to less than 10 species, including clams, cockles, mussels, oysters and Pacific salmon.

The guide also details species including coley, herring and whiting as fish to eat because, it says, they come from well-managed, sustainable stock. “Fish to avoid come from unsustainable, over-fished and/or badly managed fisheries and/or have high levels of by-catch,” the guide says.

Environmentalists are warning that stocks are over-exploited and we should stop eating them. They also say toxins such have built up in the fatty tissue of fish thanks to decades of industrial pollution of the seas.

The UK Food Standards Agency, marine conservation societies in Britain and Australia, the Royal Society of Chemistry and specialist organisations, have drawn up a list of fish that are sustainable and healthy.

Top for health are oily fish high in omega-3s, but generally free of contaminants. The 10 fish that fall into this category are herring, kippers, pilchards, sardines, sprats, wild trout, whitebait, anchovies, farmed carp and mussels.

Of these, sardines, pilchards and sprats have the highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids. Tinned tuna has very little because the fat has been squeezed out and sold as animal feed.

Other safe and sustainably-caught fish include striped farmed bass, white bass, Pacific cod, Dover sole, Alaskan and Pacific halibut, red mullet, cold-water (but not warm-water) prawns, tilapia and turbot. These are not, however, oily fish and while they are recommended, they are not high in the omega-3 fatty acids.

The list of fish that qualify on all counts is not long, but the report’s editor Jeanette Longfield says “unless people change what they eat, and governments stop running scared of vested interests, we’re simply going to run out of fish”.

Since 1950, technological advances have resulted in annual catches increasing five-fold. In the 1990’s, this rapid growth tapered off as fish populations declined dramatically.

The latest figures from the UN food and agriculture organisation say 52% of commercial fish species are fully exploited, 17% over-exploited and 8% depleted. Intense industrial fishing is highly destructive. As nets are pulled across the sea floor they can flatten reefs and aquatic plants, the basis for entire ecosystems. It is not know if trawled areas can recover.

Despite this, the trend has been towards building ever bigger trawlers and super trawlers. Hi-tech fishing has also led to a rapid increase in the size of by-catches — fish caught by mistake which is then dumped. Up to 80% of fish caught is discarded because it is commercially useless.

The report also points out the inconsistencies in government policy. As well as offering conflicting advice on health, economic policies at EU level are contradictory. The common fisheries policy is supposed to conserve endangered fish stocks, yet it also subsidises the super-trawlers that are wreaking havoc to oceanic ecosystems.

“Government policy is all at sea,” says Ben Wielgosz, the author of the British report.

“One government agency is telling people to eat more fish because it’s good for their health. The same agency is issuing health warnings because some fish are too contaminated for pregnant women to eat. The EU knows the North Sea fisheries and others are on the brink of collapse but doesn’t have the will to put the public interest first,’ he claims.