Fishermen against calls for return to ‘fish on Fridays’ ascetic practice

FISH is good for your soul and you should eat it daily — not just on a Friday, according to the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation in Donegal.

Speaking in response to calls from Catholic bishops in England and Wales for a return to penitential fasting on Fridays, the organisation’s vice-president Martin Howley said he hopes consumers will continue to see fish as a healthy, tasty daily option rather than going back to seeing it as a once-a-week obligation.

Though formally abandoned by Catholics in 1985, the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has called for a revival of the old fish on Fridays ascetic practice, observed by Catholics for thousands of years.

However, Irish fishermen would rather see Church believers choose a different form of self-denial.

Mr Howley said: “I think that such a move would have a very negative effect on fish sales. Fish is good for you. I wouldn’t like people to see fish as being imposed on them one day a week, like we used to view it when I was growing up.

“This hasn’t been an issue for 20 years. The consumption of fish has gone up and up. It is now the number one item on the menu for a lot of the top restaurants, and that is exactly where most fishermen want it to stay.”

The Bishops’ conference of England and Wales website is currently carrying a suggestion that Catholics return to meat-free Fridays, but Church authorities in Rome and Ireland have not yet joined in this move.

It has caused some controversy in Britain, where clerics have served up tasty meat-free recipes, with others serving up suggestions for alternative forms of penitence.