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Getting hooked on alternative fish species




Newbury MP, Richard Benyon, backed shoppers at Sainsbury's to 'Switch the Fish' in store on Friday

NEWBURY shoppers were urged to ‘Switch the Fish' on Friday (June 17) as part of a campaign to get people hooked on alternative fish species.

Newbury MP and natural environment and fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, visited the town's Sainsbury's store to give his backing to the campaign, which aims to reel people in to such species as megrim, rainbow trout, coley, mackerel and hake instead of the ‘Big 5' of salmon, tuna, cod, haddock and prawns.

Currently, 80 per cent of fish sales in the UK are made up of the ‘Big 5', with lots of alternative fish species being discarded as a result of the lack of market for them.

However, on Friday, Sainsbury's used alternative fish species as bait, offering customers at the fishmonger counter an alternative to the Big 5 for free, together with recipe cards from Jamie Oliver on how to cook them.

Mr Benyon said: “I applaud Sainsbury's for its campaign.

“The average customer has a very conservative taste and encouraging new markets for these alternative fish will take pressures off the big 5 stocks.

“The variety of fish that is available is so good and I honestly believe that people only have to try it once to get hooked on it.”

Mr Benyon, who recommended hake as a delicious alternative, said making changes to the Common Fisheries Policy was a key priority for him in his position in Government, adding that fishermen who were constantly having new controls and measures placed on them had to be included as part of the solution.

Meanwhile, director of Sainsbury's brand, Judith Batchelar, said the campaign was about trying to be more sustainable with fish and getting people to broaden their repertoire in terms of what they eat.

She said: “We are all creatures of habit, but this is exciting to try and get people to try something new.”

Mrs Batchelar added that a ‘Switch the Fish' van was going around the country on Friday as part of the campaign, offering samples of alternative species and educating consumers on sustainable fish sourcing.



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