Anchovy and chips, anyone?

THE traditional British cod and chips supper could be replaced by anchovy and chips due to to North Sea shortages, experts warn.

Cod are already migrating north to the Arctic to flee our warmer seas, with small, oily anchovies from further south increasingly taking their place – along with sea bass, sardines and squid. Dr William Cheung, a marine ecologist at the University of British Columbia, said after the 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles at the University of Exeter: ‘It may be likely that the humble anchovy becomes one of the main fish on fish and chip menus in Britain by 2050.’

However, cod already imported from countries such as Iceland could help plug the gap.