Irish diners urged not to judge a fish by its face

IRISH diners refuse to eat the bulk of fish caught in Irish waters because they look too ugly.

Consumers are shunning cheaper catches such as gurnard, pollock and sprats because they don’t look appetising — and in some cases because they don’t like their names.

A leading group representing the fishing industry said its members are losing out because most species of fish caught are being exported to the continent, where traders there sell them on at hugely marked-up prices.

Plentiful Irish-caught fish such as megrims, mackerel and cuttlefish are all but ignored in Ireland, but regarded as a delicacy in Spain, France and Italy where consumers are prepared to pay a premium for them.

The Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, which represents 80 vessels, is anxious to rehabilitate the ‘Cinderellas of the Seas’, to protect depleting stocks of favourites such as cod, while opening up the domestic market to its members.

CEO of the producers’ organisation, Eibhlinn O’Sullivan, said: “Our members land a variety of different fish species including tuna, haddock, herring, hake, horse mackerel, mackerel megrims, prawns and whiting. Unfortunately at the moment a lot of these species would not be popular with Irish consumers and, to a large extent, our members depend on the export market for their products.”

Fish guru Martin Shanahan, who has backed the campaign, hopes his new RTÉ show, starting Thursday, will encourage people to try new catches other than old favourites such as cod, plaice and salmon.

Shanahan said most seafood sold here is limited to just a handful of species. But he said people are missing out, because less fashionable fish is equally as tasty and is a fraction of the price.

He said: “We need to take fish like cod, salmon and plaice out of our heads and concentrate on other ones like the Europeans do. Cod is an overused fish, but pollock, hake or haddock are all cheaper and more sustainable and certainly as tasty. We need to move away from fish that is under pressure and go on to other ones. But to do that people need to stop eating with their eyes. Cuttlefish, for example, looks horrible on a plate, but is delicious and hugely in demand in Barcelona. One of the ugliest fish in our waters is the red gurnard. People don’t want to eat it because of how it looks, but it’s delicious. Irish hake is in huge demand in Spain because the quality’s so good. It’s also very plentiful, but people here are still unsure of it.

“Sometimes the name of a fish can put people off too. I think a lot of people don’t like the sound of the word ‘pollock’ or ‘skate’. Consumers even seem to prefer tiger prawns from Thailand to Dublin Bay prawns, which is wrong because the ones here are much better. I think it’s just that the ones from Thailand look better and sound more exotic, but they’re certainly not as tasty.”

Shanahan is also doing his bit to introduce diners to less fashionable fish in his popular restaurant Fishy Fishy in Kinsale, Co Cork. Business is up 18% at the busy eaterie on this time last year, partly, he says, because of the new and cheaper species he’s introduced recently to diners.

“We’ve introduced megrim recently, a fish from the sole family, but virtually unknown here. There’s a plentiful supply in our seas and they cost a quarter of the price of a Dover sole, but are just as delicious.”

* Martin’s Still Mad About Fish, 8.30pm, Thursday on RTÉ1.