not fishing related... FOOD!!!

C

cod head

Well-known member
Im sat eating fish and chips from the chippy and was just wondering where the majority of our chippys get our cod from, also is whitby fish straight out of whitby, might sound like a daft question but just curious lol
 
Whitby's fish/sea food, is as Russian as Latimer's fish/sea food is African lads. I won't even get into the Iceland/the food store/frozen stuff, debate thing.

I can't believe on a fishing forum people would question the freshness or locality of fish, surely you've had fresh caught fish,? then you should recognize the difference between "PROPER" fresh and frozen fish. If not then the only way I can describe it, is that the older fish gets the fishier it tastes, that includes frozen "FRESH".
 
It all depends on the chippy, i'm sure the small one in Amble get their's locally. Our one at Stobhill in Morpeth used to have a sign saying fish was caught locally. Mind over the years i have eaten some really crap fish and chips from different places. Fish and chips from the Anglers Arms at Weldon bridge is Lovely ;) and big :)
 
Not quite a chippy (although does takeaway fish on a Friday) my local pub advertises it's cod from Hartlepool and we're 25 miles inland from there.
 
I work for a local fish monger/wholesaler and the vast majority of cod and haddock is imported from the faroe islands or at least the boats land the catch at the big factorys there.

you wouldnt believe how many places sell frozen fish. "Top quality" places aswell..

as for fish in whitby. We supply the 3 biggest/best restraunts there and none and i do mean none of the cod they sell is local to this country never mind whitby. Importaion and farming keep this industry alive.
stuff like plaice, and sole is usually local cought. Sea trout and and wild bass when in season and a few others but the majority is imported.

As for "fresh" use the term loosely. We supply the very top restraunts in the whole north east and the fish they put on the table at times has been out the water a week.


There just isnt enuff cod in the north sea to feed the appetite of the industry and certainly not enuff boats to get whats needed.

There is quite a few top venues that sell "hartlepool" fish this means nothing more than thats where it was transported to... not a great deal comes in off the boats usually langos, plaice, sole, gurnads that get sold for pot bait and the lads bringing there catch from the pots.

Quite surprising really but its all about proffit and everyone buys and sells for the best possible proffit... frozen gear is in just about everywhere


there is a place in scarbrough i go to that advertising accross the front of his popular restraunt "local fresh scarbrough fish"

In actual fact it comes out the north east atlantic then goes to faroe islands to be sorted then shipped to grimsby goes to scarbrough, gets filleted then transported to hartlepool then a day later ends up back in scarbrough

fresh? 4 days out the water to grimsby, another day in scarbrough, a day in hartlepool, then in his fridge for upto 3 days

but all the while still fresh..... oh the irony lol
 
finding nemo said:
I work for a local fish monger/wholesaler and the vast majority of cod and haddock is imported from the faroe islands or at least the boats land the catch at the big factorys there.

you wouldnt believe how many places sell frozen fish. "Top quality" places aswell..

as for fish in whitby. We supply the 3 biggest/best restraunts there and none and i do mean none of the cod they sell is local to this country never mind whitby. Importaion and farming keep this industry alive.
stuff like plaice, and sole is usually local cought. Sea trout and and wild bass when in season and a few others but the majority is imported.

As for "fresh" use the term loosely. We supply the very top restraunts in the whole north east and the fish they put on the table at times has been out the water a week.


There just isnt enuff cod in the north sea to feed the appetite of the industry and certainly not enuff boats to get whats needed.

There is quite a few top venues that sell "hartlepool" fish this means nothing more than thats where it was transported to... not a great deal comes in off the boats usually langos, plaice, sole, gurnads that get sold for pot bait and the lads bringing there catch from the pots.

Quite surprising really but its all about proffit and everyone buys and sells for the best possible proffit... frozen gear is in just about everywhere


there is a place in scarbrough i go to that advertising accross the front of his popular restraunt "local fresh scarbrough fish"

In actual fact it comes out the north east atlantic then goes to faroe islands to be sorted then shipped to grimsby goes to scarbrough, gets filleted then transported to hartlepool then a day later ends up back in scarbrough

fresh? 4 days out the water to grimsby, another day in scarbrough, a day in hartlepool, then in his fridge for upto 3 days

but all the while still fresh..... oh the irony lol
Click to expand...


Haha class thanks for that reply mate, interesting read...sad i know :(
 
Matured fish tastes better anyway...

dont get me wrong a lot of the time fish can be fresh on the market monday on ya plate tuesday bit even then its 3-5 days old and that is as good as ya get.

i think fish cought and eat the same day isnt as good

it would be interesting to sea who orederd fish in a michalin star rated hotel if they saw the process i do lol
 
Not saying cod isnt landed locally or even nationally from the north sea. Just very little compared to whats imported...

just putting my experience of the local market forward.
 
Not sure who you work for or who your company supply finding nemo, but I have family that live and work in Whitby town and 9 out of 10 of the chippies there are supplied locally with Whitby fish by local trawlers. Same as your numbers for fish of 3-5 days old, actually most commercial trawlers/industrial ships can be at sea up to six months at a time, most fish you get frozen or served as fresh in supermarkets etc tend to be between 2-3weeks - 6 months old.

Same goes for most of the restaurants and hotels I've worked in have always sourced local produce, I'm not saying alot of the industry don't go cheap with imports like but this is just what I've been around and know as fact. If you go to most local fish quays they stock exactly that, local sourced stocks and not imported, think about it, it would cripple fishing towns if they didn't sell local stock.

Its the chip shops etc further in shore that are despicable, selling people cat fish farmed in thailand, bought cheaply and sold as cod with cod prices.
 
Im not on about what the supermarkets sell. Im on about where the best eating establishments in the whole of the north east get theirs...
9 out of 10 chippys in whitby dont get their fish off the market either... most use frozen boxed fillets... the 3 most popular and upmarket places in whitby use us and that cod/haddock comes from where and how i said..
we deal on a daily basis with whitbys biggest fish merchant so i also know what goes on there aswell
We also deal with on a daily basis some of the uks top chefs... marco piere white, andrew pern and james martin along with others.. you would expect these chefs to know fish. They use us coz we supply the best amd this comes from the places ive said.

im not trying to say there isnt a local market but in the exact words of scarbroughs biggest merchant "the north sea is ****ed"

This industry isnt what it seems to most people, you think im wrong but see this on a daily basis i have no reason to lie or fabricate it. This is what happens...

local industry relies on importation and farming why do you think there is hardly any boats left
 
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