Haddock best for our fishermen

Various people have recently suggested that, to support Britain's beleaguered fishermen, we should all eat more cod. They might be alarmed at the answer given by Ben Bradshaw, the fisheries minister, when Owen Paterson, the Tory fisheries spokesman, asked how much of the cod consumed in the UK is now landed by British registered vessels. The answer is 5 per cent. The remaining 95 per cent is caught by fishermen from Iceland, the Faroes, France, Spain and elsewhere. Fish-and-chips-lovers wishing to support British fishermen would do better to ask for haddock.

Christopher Booker's notebook
Daily Telegraph
(15/02/2004)