Love them or hate them, the anchovy is a staple ingredient in a plethora of Mediterranean dishes. Whether in nicoise salads or on top of pizzas, these salty little fish are commonly served in many restaurants around the world, but for how much longer can they survive on menus, if at all?
The Marine Conservation Society has recently compiled a complete guide to sustainable seafood, providing the information for consumers to make an informed choice about what they eat, without driving their dinner into extinction.
The good fish guide places seafood on a scale from 1 â 5, those being the most sustainable being graded 1, then going up the scale to the most endangered, graded 5. Along with cod, blue-fin tuna and skate, the anchovy, commonly fished around the Bay of Biscay, has been given the worst rating of 5 and placed along with 68 other species on the âfish to avoidâ list.
Over fishing has caused stocks to dwindle, with the demand for adult fish hindering the reproduction cycle. Consumers are now being asked to avoid eating these endangered fish, to give stocks time to replenish.
At the other end of the spectrum, line caught Australian red snapper, dab and flounder, as well as farmed oysters and mussels are all listed as âfish to eatâ and hopefully will start to become the choice of restaurants and dinners alike, however, consumer demand will still drive the industry, so the only way to ensure fish like the anchovy survive is to stop buying them.
This will cause some distress to those who love the unique flavour of anchovies, although for many others this will be a blessing in disguise. My greatest concern is over how many of these scarce fishy specimens ended up being picked out of food and ended up being flung in the bin?
For the full list of âfish to eat Click here
For the full list of âfish to avoidâ Click here