Fish from China
Due to changes and shortages brought about by the pandemic I have been buying frozen fish. I used to buy frozen haddock fillets at Sainsbury's, which were discontinued. Then I started buying a similar product at Tesco's. A couple of weeks ago Tesco discontinued the product too. Now both supermarkets have come up with new versions of frozen haddock fillets. The package looks similar but there are differences in weight and other details. BOTH ARE PACKED IN CHINA!!! Sainsburys says it is caught in NE Atlantic. Tesco did not specify (and right now they do not seem to have any). Why fish caught in NE Atlantic comes from China? And how safe is it? Does anybody know?
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It used to be that it was cheaper to transport fish from Scottish waters to the Qfar East for processing eg shell removal, especially if it then became a ready meal and was transported back. Shipping containers with the right temperature controls can transport all sorts of fresh or frozen products, without deterioration.
I have noticed changes in Iceland. This sold as Atlantic salmon .. Atlantic salmon is a breed of salmon. It doesn't mean that the fish was caught in the Atlantic. It says Produced in the UK and doesn't specify where it was caught, so may be farmed salmon.
https://www.iceland.co.uk/p/iceland-2-boneless-atlantic-salmon-fillets-260g/77504.html
This smoked haddock says that it was produced and packed in China. The additives listed are colourants. So not wild. Not even smoked. https://www.iceland.co.uk/p/iceland-4-boneless-smoked-haddock-fillets-460g/56493.html
This wild pink salmon.. wild means nothing. Wild rocket in the supermarket, comes from a farm. Wild pink salmon may be used as the breed, rather than denoting that it was wild-caught. There's no fishing waters listed. It says Produced and Packed in China. Another clue is the exhortation ' Choose sustainable seafood with the MSC blue logo blue fish label to help protect our oceans'.. This could be misleading as the MSC does certify fisheries catching wild fish, eg Hastings. But protecting oceans means fishing less and relying more on aquaculture. https://www.iceland.co.uk/p/iceland-4-boneless-wild-pink-salmon-fillets-480g/66077.html
Most Scottish salmon is farmed. Pretty much all trout too. All those tiger prawns come from farms in Asia. Sea bass 'from the clear Aegean waters' means it's farmed in Greece. Turkey farms a lot of fish too.
If it gives you a lot of waffle but no actual fishing waters, it ain't wild. Supermarkets are shifting to food outside the EU. Same goes for chicken from Thailand and beef from Brazil.
So how to make sure you know what you are buying ? For fish, look for the named waters and a code which identifies them. Don't mistake a breed for something wild. It's sleight of hand by the supermarket. It's cheap because it's farmed with huge volume.