Where are the Pollock?

[John Marshall]

Found this at good old auntie. BBC Food

Pollack is related to cod and has similar white chunky flakes and flavour to match. Line-caught (particularly 'hand-line') pollack is a recommended buy because the fish are caught on individual hooks, from smaller boats.

Try telling the trawlers or the wreck netters.

[Spahill]

I stopped buying "tortured" chicken & only buy free range (occasionally) since seeing the Hugh F-W program on channel 4 (discounting nuggets (sh&*e which doesn't contain much meat) for the little boy). Fish has pretty much dropped of the menu unless I catch it myself, very rare to get something I can keep & even rarer that I catch it at a suitable time for it to be fresh enough when I get home. Appologies to the pigs that go in the 80% sausages, you probably have a hard life too. Lets face it - some people at the top are getting very rich by ravaging the planets natural resources, fish, oil, metals etc... I'll try & do my little bit, theres many who do more & even more who care less. If we all do a little more then it may get a little better. A big splash on tele about the plight of the fish stocks might help, but then is it in the interests of the powerfull to highlight the problems. .. . . .. .. .. Sorry to put a downer sort of comment on here. Could someone cheer this miserable O.G. up with something a bit lighter?

[Gremlin]

There's a lot of us who feel like you do, Spahill.

Of course, you could listen to the Under 10s (age?) brigade at Hastings who maintain there are so many cod in the Channel that you can walk to Calais on their backs!

They're quite prepared to wipe out any favourable cod breeding season in one season of frantic, indiscriminate activity and then claim the quota system (which this year, so far, has worked!) is inadequate for their needs.

I honestly think it's the beginning of the end of commercial fishing as we know it, especially since some Thames estuary herring fishermen and some Cornish bass folks have embraced the sustainable non-intensive methods.

I could go on .....

[monkey nuts]

with you there spahill
i refuse to spend money a 3-5 day old scanky fish for silly money,when thay are wrecking the sea's. the only fish in the menu in my house is what i catch........good thing i like chickin and beef and will pay for it or id starve...lol

as for the question , i think its due to the black water(crystal clear water and full of life) which travel up the channel from the gulf stream not made it up the channel yet. when we went to gurnsey we only found a very narrow line in the mid channel less than 1 mile wide when normaly by this time of year it would be at least 10-15 mile wide . just a thougt but it does seem when the black water arrives wrecking realy kicks off for pollock , ling and cod.

i do know the brighton and hastins boats are doing well for cod but not of any size like we get when the water clears. but thay are not getting pollock of size eather
iv got a trip on the 22nd june codding in the mid channel. so fingers crossed m8 that things improve

cheers john