Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver

For cod’s sake, don’t sacrifice the fish

One of the more dispiriting experiences of the British supermarket is a visit to the fish counter. On a  historically seagoing island, the selection is often abysmal, frequently imported, and always expensive: farmed Norwegian salmon, farmed Vietnamese basa (blech), cod gone a suspicious taupe and priced like its weight in saffron (83 per cent of the cod consumed in the UK is also imported; why?) and maybe a few locally sourced mackerel or sardines, depending on the day.

Otherwise, vinegary cockles, leathery kippers and smoked haddock the garish colour of a child’s toy substitute for a fresh catch from British waters. Worse, at my nearest Tesco, as of two months ago there is no fish counter. Nearly all the prepackaged fillets in the refrigerated aisle are shipped from elsewhere.

I realise that we’re all looking forward to not talking about Brexit for a while. We can also hope that the Prime Minister is already clued-up about the idiosyncratic preoccupations of his citizenry, and doesn’t need more advice. Yet with trade talks in Brussels set to get under way after an EU departure that I’m lavishly on record as predicting would never happen (and I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to be wrong), this is an apt juncture at which to deliver Boris Johnson a special request from the British people: don’t sacrifice the fish.

Such an appetite has EU officialdom repeatedly signalled for the retention of access to British fishing grounds that it seems Eurocrats are anxious about their nutritional levels of omega-3. Given that around 60 per cent of the catch from British waters is landed by foreign vessels, Spain, Denmark, France and the Netherlands will apply intense pressure on Boris to cave. The fishing industry represents only 0.1

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in