Whelks....Environmentally friendly?

[Lou]

Ok, so not whelks themselves, but whelk fishing.

Overheard conversation involving two NW fisherman....went something like this

- Found a new whelk bed

- oh aye?

- Yep, should be a good'un once I get rid of all the rubbish on top of it. Had to dump 10 tons of dogfish off it already.


So, there is a bycatch I never considered before.

Any other less obvious ones that anyone has heard of?

Lou

[chrisch]

Sadly this is why the fishing industry will destroy the marine ecosystem.

The same mentality dumps sharks back in the sea with their fins cut off.

The profit motive will eventually backfire on us all.

Chris

[angleseydiver]

Lou,

Not sure I understand what was alegedly said in your post- round here they use dogfish (generally a bye-catch from other methods) exclusively as Whelk bait.

I should imagine Whelking is one of the least destructive methods of fishing (alongside being one of the few options left to our Nation's fisherfolk). There are no nets or hooks involved and given that the grounds are generally mud-banks loss of gear is fairly minimal, bye-catch is also minimal as there's not much out there, other than whelks, that would want to eat sections of minging Dogfish-the mingier the the better, apparently!

[Snash]

Originally Posted by angleseydiver

Lou,

bye-catch is also minimal as there's not much out there, other than whelks, that would want to eat sections of minging Dogfish

The French..... perhaps???


Regards

Simon

[Lou]

Hmmm. Interesting. I will check with my "source" again. Maybe there was a misunderstanding.

It still riles me that there can be 10 tons of dogfish to use, if that is the case, but I will confirm.

Lou

[MATTBIN]

Isnt Dogfish also known as Rock Salmon?

Matt

[angleseydiver]

Matt - most of Dogfish species and parts of Skate and Rays are sold as "rock Salmon" and also used as Scampi.


Snash - Green incoming!
ATB,
Terry

[Lou]

Yep, Matt. Heaven forbid they actually told folk what they were eating!


Actually, the Shark Trust are looking for people to feedback to them if their local supermarkets are selling skate, ray or shark products. I'm sure they have a document somewhere that lists all the aliases these meats go under when sold to the public.

Lou

[MATTBIN]

I had heard the rumour that 'scampi' wasnt scampi as such, but is this fact or urban myth. Any websites that 'prove' it.

Matt

[Lou]

Matt...

Lacots

7 supplemented the FdAC advice in 1990. Then they "described" three distinct breaded

scampi products :—

u

"Breaded Scampi" - Whole scampi tails coated in breadcrumbs.

u

"Breaded Scampi - Chopped and Shaped" - Scampi meat which has been minced,

chopped or flaked and reformed into scampi-tail like shapes and coated in

breadcrumbs.

u

"Breaded Scampi - Shaped pieces of scampi in breadcrumbs" - Scampi tails tumbled and

broken into small pieces and extruded into scampi-tail like shapes and coated in

breadcrumbs.

This advice was possibly an attempt, in the second and third categories, to distinguish

between breaded scampi containing discrete pieces of scampi reformed into a tail shape and

breaded "scampi" containing extruded mince which has been formed into a tail shape. The

mince can also include mechanically recovered scampi, prawns, cereals and minced white

fish residues.

These categories have led to a wide range of descriptions being used by manufacturers.

(Table 4). It is unlikely that the consumer can understand the differences concealed behind

these names.