Fish fight in Galway

beagle001

Folks watched a program on channel 4 Hugh fearngley whittinstall on fishing around the world.
Try and see it it's called hughs fish fight.
Basically EU fishing laws are a total mess and over half the fish caught are discarded back into the sea dead.
Massive waste daily and it's not going to change unless the public use their voice.
Shops like Dunnes and Tesco are stocking tuna that has been caught in Africa using 3000m drift nets that also catch turtles,rays and sharks which get slaughtered and thrown back dead into the sea.
Basically I hope people question where the fish they buy in Galway comes from and try and support local sustainably caught fish.

eagle10

Despite what retailers tell you a small precentage of the fish available on the shelves is sourced locally its mostly imported from other countries

beagle001

After watching that program I will never buy any fish products from a major retailer in any country and source my fish from one of the local fish shops that I can trust.

Mars Bar

I thought the title said fist fight!

ronnie3585

The title of this thread disappoints.

RMD

When it comes to meat / fish I always try to buy stuff from my local butcher / fishmonger. I know the stuff I'm getting is good quality and it's nice to see someone who cares about their job instead of some guy who was assigned to the meats counter.

beagle001

ronnie3585 wrote: »

The title of this thread disappoints.

Why's that were fighting back for the fish what disappoints you about that.

inisboffin

Do any one of the smaller shops in particular advertise that they specialise in local and sustainable fish? Just curious, and it'd be good to point people in their direction.

Edit to say, thought I saw a sign in Dunnes (Westside) that they get their fish from Galway Bay Seafoods **

**I could be wrong about the company, but I remember it being a smaller local company.

beagle001

Mermaid fish shop near cookes corner get majority of their fish locally,think Ernie near the jess does the same.

inisboffin

beagle001 wrote: »

Mermaid fish shop near cookes corner get majority of their fish locally,think Ernie near the jess does the same.

Thanks, think Ernie has a mix, but if you asked he'd tell you what's what I'd say.

beagle001

Galway bay seafoods get most of their fish flown in from the fish markets in Germany and it's caught in Iceland and Norway.
I know a fella who works with them and he said it's absolute madness all the fish we have in our own seas and we are importing it all.

ronnie3585

beagle001 wrote: »

Why's that were fighting back for the fish what disappoints you about that.

I was expecting something more along the lines of two Mackerel squaring up to each other outside Supermacs on a Saturday night.


Thanks for fighting back for the fish though. I'm sure they'll be delighted when they hear.

lasso

I've worked in a butcher counter in a supermarket where they also sell fish. I was shocked a how much of the fish came from abroad, and even "farmed" abroad.
while there was, from time to time, quite a bit sourced locally (obviously tuna isnt caught on our seas etc) we share our seas with many nations. "North atlantic" is often mentioned on the boxes but there are set fishing zones for each nation.

I say get a rod. the galway bay was swarming with mackeral last month (and with that huge swarms of birds). try buy locally where you can. farmed fish, mosly salmon, is cheaper but if you can find a wild local alternative will be much tastier. I do think that the industry needs a complete overhaul with an emphasis on sustainabillity.

JohnCleary

beagle001 wrote: »

Mermaid fish shop near cookes corner get majority of their fish locally,think Ernie near the jess does the same.

Ernie is known to catch some of the fresh water fish himself! His shop is a little gem. While the shop is lacking in modern decor, it's one of the few remaining home-brew business' left in Galway. A true gent who will always give you bang for your buck with a smile

kosmo

got some "fresh" salmon from the fish counter in tesco yesterday. the biggest mistake ever.
no taste, no flavour, a waste of money.
that's one place i'll never buy fish fom ever again.

Zzippy

beagle001 wrote: »

Galway bay seafoods get most of their fish flown in from the fish markets in Germany and it's caught in Iceland and Norway.
I know a fella who works with them and he said it's absolute madness all the fish we have in our own seas and we are importing it all.

What do you mean - "all the fish we have in our own seas"? Most fish stocks in Irish waters are overfished and not sustainable, mackerel being the notable exception, mainly because of rapid reproductive rates so that they can rebuild their stock quite quickly. EU fishery management policies are a joke. At least Iceland (at least until recently) manage their fisheries better, with properly enforced quotas and no foreign vessels allowed. That's why they still have relatively healthy fish stocks.

lasso wrote: »

farmed fish, mosly salmon, is cheaper but if you can find a wild local alternative will be much tastier. I do think that the industry needs a complete overhaul with an emphasis on sustainabillity.

Farmed salmon is not sustainable - it takes 3-5 tonnes of fishmeal to rear 1 tonne of salmon, so thats many tonnes of wild fish taken by commercial fishing for every tonne of salmon sold. Not to mention the environmental degradation caused by salmon farming, including the decimation of wild sea trout stocks in Connemara and other regions.

Check out http://www.iwt.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156&Itemid=92 - the Irish Wildlife Trust's Consumer Guide to Seafood for more info on sustainable fishing and what is responsible to eat.

tinofapples

With the times we live what are the difference's like in price between the local fishmonger and the supermarket ? Would love to get fish straight off the boat locally but live 38 miles from city and might only be in town one a week.

seriouslysweet

Beagle I'd love to know where you got that information. I hate that type of banter. Most of their fish comes directly from Ros a Mhíl. Fact.

beagle001

Seriouslysweet
I am not going to compromise the position of the person who told me as they work for the company and who knows reads this as it would pinpoint him if I gave his job title.
I have it from the horses mouth that they collect the fish in Dublin a couple of times a wk and it is flown in from the German fish markets.
I am sure they might get some from rosa bhil but majority imported.

Seaneh

Makes very little sense, the biggest fish market, where most of the north sea fish is landed, is in England, not Germany...

why bother buying from a smaller market?

DanielI

www.fishfight.net

Discodog

I thought the OP meant this !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCwLirQS2-o

left_behind

beagle is correct galway bay seafoods do buy their fish from germany and have done for years. i have worked in the deli of a couple of supermarkets and know this for a fact.

Jonybgud

Fish caught off the south west coast of Ireland was landed and brought via train from Baltimore, West Cork all the way to the east coast and by boat and again by train to Billingsgate and the markets in London, all over night so the produce was the freshest could be got.

The only problem is that this was 100 years ago and now we have to import even the smallest amounts for ourselves to eat, what an utter shame.

seriouslysweet

My parents buy straight from Ros a Mhil, granted there are ten of us but I am assured it works out reasonably for us.Irish fish for Irish bellies!

beagle001

seriouslysweet wrote: »

My parents buy straight from Ros a Mhil, granted there are ten of us but I am assured it works out reasonably for us.Irish fish for Irish bellies!

Ya just because your parents buy straight from ros a mhil,doesn't make it fact that Galway bay seafoods buy their majority stock as well.Fact

DOTHEDOG

for god sake girls and boys stop the squabbling get your self a boat and a rod go about 1/2 mile out from spiddal the black back pollock out there taste much better than any imported cod or whitefish

FACT :eek:

stevecrow74

i've never bought so called fresh fish from a supermarket and never will..

and rarely buy fish at that, I'm one of those few who catch the fish I eat.
but if i do buy it i make sure i know where it came from by getting it from the local fish mongers..

you'ld be surprised on the amount of fish the fishmongers import into the country though, take Bass for instance.. you can NOT buy Irish Bass, and with very good reason too.. it was fished till there were nearly none left in our coastlines, thankfully they are now protected, and this may have to happen to other fish that are being over fished.

as mentioned there are better tasting fish out there than haddock, cod, tuna etc, etc...
Pollack, coalfish, gurnard, poorcod, pouting, squid, mackerel, herring, flounder, dab all taste nice and can all be caught in Galway bay through out the year.

Buying from fishmongers keeps majority of the fish caught local, but nearly all of the supermarket fresh and frozen are imported.. even a percentage of all donegal catch are imported into the country !!!

fish from the fishmongers can be about 24-48hrs old, kept on ice and nearly as fresh as it was when caught, however fish in the supermarkets can be a few days old if and even up to a week (not what i'd call fresh no matter how long its been kept on ice.

give fishing a shot.. nearly all fish are very good tasting (but give the small fish a chance to grow too).. and stay away from the lesser weaver!!!

tro81

you can watch the program that started it all here
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hughs-fish-fight/4od#3163312

Irishgoatman

beagle001 wrote: »

Folks watched a program on channel 4 Hugh fearngley whittinstall on fishing around the world.
Try and see it it's called hughs fish fight.
Basically EU fishing laws are a total mess and over half the fish caught are discarded back into the sea dead.
Massive waste daily and it's not going to change unless the public use their voice.
Shops like Dunnes and Tesco are stocking tuna that has been caught in Africa using 3000m drift nets that also catch turtles,rays and sharks which get slaughtered and thrown back dead into the sea.
Basically I hope people question where the fish they buy in Galway comes from and try and support local sustainably caught fish.

With regard to fish being thrown back dead, I'm surprise that this is the first that you've heard about.
It's been highlighted many times before and has been happening for years.

The problem is caused by the quota system and works in the same way as when you used to hear of farmers pouring milk away because it was over their quota.

If a fishing boat hauls up a net full of cod and they have already filled their quota for that month (or whatever period it works to) they have to be thrown back!! and straight after you watched that prog the chances are that there was an advert asking for money to help feed the hundreds of thousands of starving people around the world:eek:.

The situation would be laughable if it wasn't so disgusting:mad:.

Of course they might not have a quote at all for that type of fish.

BhoscaCapall

Around the time of the Lisbon Tr€aty being passed, I remember reading that Norway now had more right to fish in Irish waters than Ireland does. If that is true then it's hardly surprising we have to import!

beagle001 wrote: »

tuna that has been caught in Africa using 3000m drift nets that also catch turtles,rays and sharks which get slaughtered and thrown back dead into the sea..

Why throw them back? Wouldn't mind a bit of shark myself.