'WE ARE A RESPONSIBLE INDUSTRY', SAYs FEDERATION of fish friers AS BOSS REJECTS CLAIMS FISH AND CHIP SHOPS USE ENDANGERED SPECIES
By Luke Chillingsworth
Claims that pieces of shark found in fish and chip shops in Britain were from endangered species has been slammed by the National Federation of Fish Friers.
A report from the University of Essex found that 90% of samples collected from 78 fish and chip shops, 10 of which were from London, contained meat from the endangered spiny dogfish species.
But Andrew Cook, spokesperson for the Federation, said most of the fish used in UK fish and chip shops came from North America where fishing the shark is legal.
“Through talking to our fish suppliers and the Marine Stewardship Council, we are assured that the majority of dogfish imported into the UK fish and chip industry is from the Marine Stewardship Council certified North American fishery.
A spiny dogfish, the species is endangered in the EU.
“It’s so easy for people to be led in the wrong direction. We’ve done so much work on sustainability. We are a responsible industry.”
Commercial fishing of the species has been banned in the European Union since 2011 and is currently on the European red list of threatened species.
But spiny dogfish is the most abundant shark in the northwest Atlantic and, according to the 2015 stock assessment, the sharks are not deemed to be an overfished species.
Callum Roberts, a marine biologist, said although the numbers of dogfish species look in ‘better shape’ in North America than in Europe, there are still concerns about overfishing.
“The problem with the dogfish species is that they’re usually a bycatch to something else. When species are caught alongside other things their numbers can dwindle over time and they’re not really the subject of good management.
“You end up with species becoming endangered under the radar and that really is what happened to dogfish.
“I don’t think anybody should be eating endangered species.”
Despite it being illegal to fish for the shark in the EU, importing the species is possible and most of the North American catch will be imported into Europe.
Ali Hood, director of communications at campaign group Shark Trust, says ‘strict management’ of the US dogfish has enabled the population to rebuild to sustainable levels, but that the species is still deemed under threat.
“They are still bycaught in significant volumes leading to continued pressure on the population,” she says.