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With the follow-up of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight programme due to air on Monday (Ch.4, 9pm), Waitrose is gearing up for a surge in sales of alternative fish to the 'big five' fish - as shoppers diversify their fish eating habits.
The retailer is still seeing the impact from the original Fish Fight campaign in January, with marked and long-term changes to fish sales patterns. The campaign encouraged shoppers to try new species and take the pressure off the 'big five' - cod, haddock, salmon, prawns and tuna.
The big five are all sustainable caught at Waitrose. But shoppers have still taken the opportunity to try under-utilised species, with white fish alternatives to cod and haddock soaring:
* Anglesey seabass fillets 31%
* Cornish pollack 207%
* Icelandic whiting fillets 35%
* Cornish brill fillets 64%
Shoppers have also been taking Fearnley-Whittingstall's advice to eat more mackerel - native to Britain and with a healthy population. Sales at Waitrose are up 105% since January.
And other less common types of seafood have been benefiting too - including dab fillets, which are proving an early hit since their launch earlier in the year, rope grown mussels (up 25%) and British king scallops (up 33%).
Waitrose pioneered responsible fish sourcing in supermarkets more than 15 years ago which means that all its fish and shellfish are either from sustainable and well managed wild fisheries or from responsibly farmed aquaculture operations.
Waitrose does not support the current system of quotas that is responsible for the generation of discards in UK waters. To that end the retailer has engaged with the Government and provided its views on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy to seek to end this form of legislation.
One of the core pillars of the Waitrose responsible sourcing policy is that all its fish must be caught using responsible fishing methods. This includes using fishing methods that minimise the impact on the marine environment, reduce levels of by-catch and protect marine mammals and sea birds.
Waitrose policies also support the promotion of under utilised fish species as alternatives to more popular fish.
Waitrose Specialist Fish Buyer Jeremy Langley said: "Protecting the world's fish stocks whilst ensuring a sustainable supply of fish for future generations is one of our biggest environmental challenges and it's essential that we work with industry and conservation groups if we’re to offer our customers fish they can buy with confidence.
"Our policy came about over 15 years ago, through necessity - we started to see the effects of overfishing and decided we had to be part of the solution not the problem.
“When we started out there just was not and is still not enough fish that has been independently certified as sustainable. So we started work applying common sense principles, welcoming input from NGOs, contributing to the appreciation some NGOs have of the issues and engaging with the industry. The scope of our policy continues to evolve to this day.
“We know our customers appreciate the ethical option being the easy option - as we sell almost triple the amount of fish we should for our size."
Should people be 'stimulated' to eat white fish alternatives to cod?
