Why is Fish so Expensive in Ireland?

CrackisWhack · 21-02-2012 12:11am

Seaneh wrote: »

untrue.

Would make sense for Cod/Salmon, but in reality it's because there is no demand for the stuff here.

Most of the stuff we land here gets sold in markets in Holland, France and other european countries because there is no value in it here.

On top of that, over 80% of all fish landed in the EU is taken from Irish waters, that's a **** ton of fish.

We were stupid to give away so much of our waters.

Thats an incredible figure, do you have a source for that?

Considering the value of the EU catch is €80 billion per year, valuing the catch at approx €1.50 per Kg, that is a hell of alot of money not taking processing of fish products into account, which would be huge, we could of been a very wealthy country?

ArmaniJeanss · 21-02-2012 12:22am

Seaneh wrote: »

On top of that, over 80% of all fish landed in the EU is taken from Irish waters, that's a **** ton of fish.

We were stupid to give away so much of our waters.

CrackisWhack wrote: »

Thats an incredible figure, do you have a source for that?

Considering the value of the EU catch is €80 billion per year, valuing the catch at approx €1.50 per Kg, that is a hell of alot of money not taking processing of fish products into account, which would be huge, we could of been a very wealthy country?

Seems to be completely untrue, surprisingly enough. More like 18%.
http://www.inshore-ireland.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=769&Itemid=175
The value of fish taken out of Irish waters from 1950-2004 is approximately €12bn at current exchange rates. Of that, €3.5 billion worth approximately was taken before Ireland joined the EU and the remaining €8.5bn between 1974 and 2004. Of the €12bn, Irish boats have taken approximately 25% or €3bn. The total value of the catch has risen since Ireland joined the EU and Ireland has been amongst the prime beneficiaries from the increased catch.

gigino · 21-02-2012 1:29am

tayto lover wrote: »

I go to a shop owned by the family who catch the fish and its no cheaper.
The price of fish is a rip-off.

set up your own shop, pay your taxes, and your rates, and obey all the rules and regulations and see how much you have left over - if anything.

K-9 · 21-02-2012 2:18am

44leto wrote: »

A French girl asked me once, why do you Irish not eat more fish?

I don't know why, a lot of Irish don't even like it, me included, I eat Cod and that's about it.

I don't know, maybe the Friday thing. I grew up near Killybegs and had no excuse but Dad filleting the freshly caught salmon was a rare thing, a special treat. Even though I love my steak and breakfast fry up, salmon is still a treat for me.

Anyway, I don't think the price has anything to do with the the Spanish. IIRC the Spanish fish far less than they used to in Irish waters, IIRC the Russians and Norwegians have a big share.

The EU? Probably but it's a tough balancing act between nationalism and fish stocks and sustainability.

Bear in mind the Irish fleet takes a decent chunk of the British quota.

And a huge chunk of Irish quotas was sewn up by a few boats owned by a huge Irish player and the independent fisherman is struggling.

K-9 · 21-02-2012 2:22am

CrackisWhack wrote: »

Thats an incredible figure, do you have a source for that?

Considering the value of the EU catch is €80 billion per year, valuing the catch at approx €1.50 per Kg, that is a hell of alot of money not taking processing of fish products into account, which would be huge, we could of been a very wealthy country?

So unbelievable it makes me wonder how anybody could possibly believe it.

southsiderosie · 21-02-2012 5:34am

How can the 'Irish don't like fish because you have to eat it on Friday' thing be true when Catholics in the rest of Europe eat tons of seafood?

I lived in the (VERY Catholic!) Basque country for a while, and I have never seen such a variety of readily available seafood. And the coastal villages there were traditionally very poor - yet the Basques were amazing sailors and fishers, and their seafaring kept many a poor village afloat.

im invisible · 21-02-2012 5:58am

gbee · 21-02-2012 9:04am

southsiderosie wrote: »

How can the 'Irish don't like fish because you have to eat it on Friday'

It's a subject for debate, I don't think we really know the answer, we seemed to have abandoned fishing on any large scale very early on, possibly pre dating Christianity and the later Catholicism, so those values would merely have emphasised an existing dislike of fish [possibly] rather than generate it.

As likely it was due to fear of predators and enemies who could smell out your catch prior to processing it. Ancient Dwellings have their food preparation areas and cooking areas quite a bit away from their living quarters and ring fenced dwellings.

That's not unique but is in contrast to other ancient dwellings where the preparation and cooking was the centre of the settlements, in ancient times.

Sonnenblumen · 21-02-2012 10:28am

Tesco Massacre wrote: »

Listen to this man. He doesn't make fish puns just for the halibut.

A slippery pun, I think you could do batter.

2 stroke · 21-02-2012 11:01am

kylith wrote: »

Ask them if they eat pollock or gurnard and they'll probably look at you like you've two heads.

Radioactive fish!
Fresh from the Irish sea!
Deep fried in waste oil from chernobyl!

SteelyDanJalapeno · 21-02-2012 11:35am

some stupid posts in this thread!

get a fishing rod, free fish forever

44leto · 21-02-2012 11:41am

TiltedBrain wrote: »

some stupid posts in this thread!

get a fishing rod, free fish forever

An old Chinese proverb.
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

I don't know I would rather you just gave me a fish without the drama.

Cantona's Collars · 21-02-2012 11:48am

Here's an example of how fish is wasted around the coasts of Ireland & Britain.It's a criminal waste imo just to keep beaurocrats happy and stick to quotas set by them as factory ships from the likes of Spain clean out the stocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbrDfh1kL1g

[Deleted User] · 21-02-2012 12:46pm

RiseToTheTop wrote: »

I agree with you OP.

In my nearby SuperValu it costs over €12 for a couple of pieces of Salmon

Where I work we have a Polish security guard, she said that when she went home on holiday a few weeks ago, she brought home some salmon.

She was saying that in Poland it was very expensive, it would have needed more than one days wages to buy one packet of fish that cost's about €15 here.

summerskin · 21-02-2012 12:58pm

`We get our fish from Aldi or the local fishmonger and tend to eat it two or three times a week. Bought some lovely Victoria Perch about a week or so ago, a great meaty fish with a slight pink colouring, beautiful. Sea bass and halibut would be my favourites though.

A very good piece of fish(halibut, fresh tuna, swordfish etc) costs about the same as a small fillet steak, nothing wrong with that. If anything, the steak should be cheaper. That said, I would like to pay less for my fish.

I grew up in the UK and we always ate a lot of fish, not sure where the poster who said the people of the UK don't eat fish or seafood got his ideas from. ever heard of Jellied eels in London? Mussels are sold at every seaside resort, most chippers offer a choice of plaice, cod, haddock or whiting.

Still amazed at how little fish people eat here though, and most people I've spoken to blame the smell. Fresh fish shouldn't have much of a smell, must be some old fish you're looking at!

gbee · 21-02-2012 2:14pm

2 stroke wrote: »

Radioactive fish!
Fresh from the Irish sea!
Deep fried in waste oil from chernobyl!

AND Windscale, don't forget their fire, a fairly nasty radioactive spillage and meltdown and from the North we can enjoy a mixture of Fukushima plutonium isotopes on the tides too, yummy!!!

gbee · 21-02-2012 2:25pm

summerskin wrote: »

I grew up in the UK and we always ate a lot of fish, not sure where the poster who said the people of the UK don't eat fish or seafood got his ideas from.

Overall, per head of population, The British Isles don't eat fish. There are some well known and world famous fishing ports in the UK where fish is highly popular as is the national dish of fish n chips.

The average consumption is once a week.

lucylu · 21-02-2012 2:39pm

I know people who will say "I dont eat Fish only Fish Fingers"
I think this maybe why alot of people dont eat fish as it does not taste like that minced fish heads they were used to as Kids.
I get my fish from a Farmers market where to fish comes fresh from Kilmore Quay. Salmon, Cod and Hake are always gone first.
The last time I got fish it was expensive 4 Large salmon darnes and 2 Hake Fillets 28 euro.

munchkin_utd · 21-02-2012 3:00pm

summerskin wrote: »

`<snip>
Still amazed at how little fish people eat here though, and most people I've spoken to blame the smell. Fresh fish shouldn't have much of a smell, must be some old fish you're looking at!

but thats the catch 22.

few enough eat it that the stuff being sold is often either gone off (from the once a weeek delivery) or is that longer lasting horrendously smelly smoked stuff.

If more ate it, then there'd be a better throughput to the shops and fresh deliveries every day and therefore less stinky and therefore a much more attractive proposition.

ash23 · 21-02-2012 3:01pm

I like fish but my poor late granny stopped eating fish after the tsunami because she was worried about all the dead people in the water and the fish nibbling at them and then us nibbling the fish.

I miss my gran

Park Royal · 22-02-2012 3:16pm

Just had a fish pie for lunch, I got a fish mix ( some white fish and smoked

cut into chunks probably Smoked Coalley ) weight.644 Kg @ €14.45 per KG

= € 9.31.

Cooked some veggies put part cooked veggies and fish mix in an oven proof dish with a white sauce ( corn flour /milk and some grated cheese) fish stock cube .....

mashed the potatoes and creamed, covered veg and fish mix with the

creamed potatoes and left in oven on a low heat until potatoes were nicely

browned ........( made four large dinners or five standard) about €3 or €2

per dinner........( guess thats a bit dear/ expensive must give up this dear

fish!);)

ScumLord · 22-02-2012 4:20pm

lucylu wrote: »

I think this maybe why alot of people dont eat fish as it does not taste like that minced fish heads they were used to as Kids.

Most branded fish fingers seem to be fillet, it's only the really cheap ones that are made from fish heads. I feed my turtles fish fingers and they love them.

Private Piles · 22-02-2012 5:03pm

Lads you've made me soo hungry!

I'm leaving work early today just so I can get to the fish mongers before they close, going to pick something at random.

Can't stop thinking about all the grilled sardines I used to eat in Portugal.
Huge mounds of them, covered in sea salt and oil, and all smokey flavoured from the flame grill.

Ellis Dee · 22-02-2012 5:10pm

It's not just in Ireland that fish is expensive. I recently paid €35.50 a kilo for fillet of pikeperch/zander (Stizostedion lucioperca) in Finland, a country with 180,000 lakes. It costs "only" €19 a kilo in Estonia, a country with much lower incomes.:eek:

I'm told that fisherfolk don't get much more money than they got several years ago; most of the price is accounted for by the retail margin.:):)

Sonnenblumen · 22-02-2012 11:15pm

ICE HOUSE wrote: »

Seriously I cant get my head around this
We are an island surrounded by water yet to buy a small piece of fish in a shop or restaurant costs a small fortune.
Ive travelled a fair bit of the world an even the most landlocked water barren countries sell fish at a fraction of a cost of here.
Anyone know the reason for this?

Maybe it's time you tried Whiskas?

Pandora2 · 22-02-2012 11:26pm

Solair wrote: »

It's mostly because the Irish and the Brits have a weird dislike of fish. I am not entirely sure what the reason for this is, there must be some sociological explanation.
It's not down to just the Catholic Church fish on friday thing either, as the same mentality persists in the UK. Until quite recently the average working-class British home only consumed fish in the form of Fish and Chips or Fish Fingers. i.e. the most bland fish of all : Cod!

Most people still do not even distinguish between types of fish and say things like "I don't like Fish".

Where as they'd be far more accurate when telling you that they like pork or they hate beef.

However, the result of this is that the market for fish is relatively small in Ireland and in the UK. Small market means very limited economies of scale and high distribution costs, particularly for a very perishable good which needs constant refrigeration and rapid distribution to market, which results in very high fish prices.

Basically, we're just the two weird islands that don't eat fish!

I'd suspect that it's down to something like the feudal system banning people from fishing in the past which created a situation where there was no culture of eating fish or it died out.

Or, some association that fish was poor people's food.
For example, in Spain a lot of snooty people / social climbers wouldn't eat rice until quite recently as it was associated with poverty + disease. Paella was very much off the middle class menu until it was repopularised.

The OH's people are from Galway and when dropping in on an elderly Aunt there she served us up some fabulous scallops......seriously good, apologising all the time. When we told her what you would pay for such a meal she was incredulous......it's only oul famine food she snorted:o

Gummy Panda · 22-02-2012 11:29pm

ScumLord wrote: »

lucylu wrote: »

I think this maybe why alot of people dont eat fish as it does not taste like that minced fish heads they were used to as Kids.

Most branded fish fingers seem to be fillet, it's only the really cheap ones that are made from fish heads. I feed my turtles fish fingers and they love them.

I thought they eat pizza

billybudd · 23-02-2012 12:24am

Alot of people associate fish with bones in Ireland and as a result have a near on phobia towards it kind of like the same thing as liver, liver is beautiful, tasty and full of goodness but because people have this poor image of when they where children of ''boiled'' liver they automatically assume that that is what they shall recieve if they order it in restaurants etc (sadly in some cases they will be right)

The thing i like with fish is that there is very little big companies can do to fish so its mostly free from artificial flavours or preservatives. a simple tweezers will make it easy to to lift bones out, just run your index finger around the fish filet and feel bones and remove.

you can buy cheap and fresh fish in an array of places around the country but usually in smaller fish mongers and harbour shops, avoid big supermarkets as their mark ups are bordering on revulsion, 18€ per kilo for farmed salmon? crazy, alot of chinese shops around dublin do fresh fish for very good prices, i bought hake for 8€ a kilo last saturday plus some wild clams for 5€ a kilo, also some fish shops around meath street have amzing fish prices, bought two plaice filets for €1 there last week no bones in them just coated in flour and pan fried with some lemon and salad and it was lovely.

anyway i buy more fish now than meat, meat to me has just become tastless and weird in the last few years.

[Deleted User] · 24-02-2012 4:44pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-17153085

Seventeen Scottish skippers and a processing firm have received fines totalling almost £1m for their part in the UK's biggest fraud involving illegal catches of fish.
The men had admitted they were able to sell vast quantities of mackerel and herring by evading EU quotas.
Three firms, one in Shetland and two in Peterhead, were involved in the black fish fraud, worth almost £63m.

One portion of contraband fish and fraudulent chips please!

ScumLord · 24-02-2012 5:16pm

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I thought they eat pizza

That's an urban myth, they'll only eat the meat parts. They prefer their food to be alive and begging for mercy.

Why is Fish so Expensive in Ireland?

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