Buy fish with confidence from Cornwall’s sustainable fishery

FISHING has been in the news a great deal recently. Retaining full access to UK fishing grounds and being able to decide on how much access is granted to EU vessels has been a red line for Boris Johnson in the Brexit talks. Some people have looked on with incredulity at how a sector of the economy that on the national scale is worth such a relatively small amount could be worth fighting so hard over.

But Mr Johnson and his ministers know that fishing is worth more than its economic value. Their judgement, that even those with no links to the sea would see a retreat on fishing as a bad move is probably correct – at least unless or until the most serious negative impacts of leaving Europe without a trade deal start to affect their lives.

But at time of writing the talks to get a deal continue and, by all accounts, the focus has moved from fishing to the so-called level playing field and what commitment Britain would have to make to stay in line with EU laws if it wants a trade deal on favourable terms. It seem that, at the moment, the demands from the EU side are too onerous. That may change as the potential disruption of no deal hits home over the weekend – for both sides.

In the meantime, however, it is good to be able to write about fishing in a different context in today’s Western Morning News. The Marine Stewardship Council has this week re-certified the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation as running a sustainable and well-managed fishery. It comes as stocks of hake in Cornish waters are at healthy levels and the fish – always popular on the continent, particularly in Spain – finds a growing market here at home in the UK too.

The sustainable badge for our fisheries matters. Once upon a time few shoppers would take much notice of how “sustainable” their food purchases might be. Today, along with quality and price, the environmental impact of so much of our food and drink has taken on a new importance, at least with a significant proportion of consumers.

That extends to the way livestock is reared, the way fruit and vegetables are produced, even the terms and conditions under which foreign labour is employed, either in their own countries or here in the UK, in getting the produce out of the fields and onto the shop shelves.

While a majority of shoppers – often out of necessity – make their first consideration when buying food its affordability, there are growing numbers prepared to ask the awkward questions and make their choices on the basis of the answers they receive about the ‘green’ credentials of the produce they choose.

Organisations that set the standards and enforce them, like the Marine Stewardship Council, have an important role in keeping us all informed. Fishermen everywhere have come in for often unfair criticism over several years as some conservationists have made sometimes unsubstantiated claims about the damage done to the seabed, fish stocks and other wildlife. The proof that in Cornwall those suspicions are groundless is welcome and gives confidence to shoppers who can buy Westcountry fish and know they are doing the right thing.