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Pouting - or pout as it is also known - has become the UK’s most in demand new fish variety.
It is in fact cheaper and more sustainable than cod to which it is related because it is not a targeted species.
Since going on sale at Tesco six weeks ago, demand for pout fillets have been such a hit with shoppers that it has achieved 50 per cent of sales of cod fillets – the UK’s most popular white fish.
Tesco counters customer manager Sophie Williams said: “For a fish that many people had never heard of before this year, pouting’s overnight success has become one of the UK’s greatest food hits of 2011."
“Pouting is appealing on many levels but money-savvy shoppers like it because it is comparatively cheap and nutritious while those with an ethical conscious favour it because it is not a targeted species."
“The huge sales we’re seeing for pout at the moment is also great news because it means pressure being taken off the UK’s most popular white fish which are cod and haddock.”
Pouting (Trisopterus luscus) is a wild species found in European waters from as far north as Norway extending all the way down to southern Spain. It is also the most common species of fish found around the coasts of the UK.
It is caught predominantly in shallower, inshore waters around the southwest of England and often a few metres from the shoreline.
Young fish grow rapidly in the rich, coastal waters, reaching maturity within 12 months and growing to 30cm in length at their largest. Their common size is around 20cm.
The chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has welcomed the news.
He said: “One of the biggest thrills of the Fish Fight campaign for me has been the way the public has responded to the challenge of eating a wider variety of more sustainable fish species."
“The fact that in the 400 stores where they are selling it, Tesco’s sales of pouting are now 50 per cent of their cod sales is brilliant news."
“As it happens pouting is a fish I love to catch and eat here in the South West – it’s a highly underrated close relative of cod, and just the kind of fish we should be eating more of.”
The fish is sold filleted by Tesco in 400 stores and is available either natural or smoked and with a choice of skin on or skinless.
Pouting costs GBP 5 per kilo for skin on natural fillets and GBP 6 for skinless fillets. Smoked pouting is GBP 6 for skin on and GBP 7 for skinless.
In comparison cod costs GBP 9 per kilo, haddock costs GBP 8 per kilo and salmon portions costs GBP 12.50 per kilo.
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