Concerns have been raised over a cheap new 'superfish' that will soon be stocked in our supermarkets. Panga, also known as the Vietnamese Rover Cobbler, is a bland, white-fleshed fish with bone-free meaty fillets.
Some people say it tastes vaguely like cod and is a cheaper alternative at around £2 a pound. It has already taken France and Spain by storm - so much so that fishermen there complain sales of their own catches are in grave decline.
Now a leading Scots MEP has warned it won't be long before we see a smiliar crisis hitting our own fishermen.
"A price slump could affect fresh-caught cod and haddock and even farmed salmon and trout as shoppers turn to panga and chips," said Struan Stevenson, the senior vice-president of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee. He is also warning there are serious concerns over the purity of the water and the way some producers are rearing panga.
"Panga are being bred in hugh industrial fish farms in the Mekong River of Vietnam and recent tests conducted by food safety scientists in Spain found 8 out of 10 samples of the fish were seriously polluted with dangerous toxins."
The 2700 mile long Mekong is one of the most heavily polluted rivers on earth.
"It is vital consumers read the labels carefully. If you want to risk eating panga fillets, ensure they come from a sustainable and clean source. Avoid the Mekong River like the plague."
Do read the whole article and note 'There have been recent court cases where chip shops have been accused of substituting cheap panga for white fish like cod without informing consumers."
Time I returned to making my own fish and chips with fresh haddock bought from my local fish shop.
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13 comments:
I'm a seafood lover. Rule 1: never buy farmed fish. Rule 2: never break rule 1. Fish farming in Scotland needs to be stopped. There are sea lochs I used to swim in, but I wouldn't now. There's so much shit in them from the fish farms that if you attempted suicide by jumping in, it wouldn't work because you'd take two days to sink.
Don't eat a supermarket salmon unless you're insanely convinced that hormones, antibiotics and pesticides can't harm you, and you really don't give a shit about the loch it came from being an opaque magnolia colour all over.
Ahm wae Vronsky.
Over here the supermarkets are full of Chinese farmed fish - basically raised in ponds of raw sewage. I try to eat only fish I have caught and even then it depends on the location and size of the fish caught. In Ontario we have a "Fish Consumption Guide" which tells you how much (if any) of a particular fish from a particular place can be eaten safely and how often.
Walleye, yellow perch, rainbow trout, crappie, are the favourite fish for eating.
Scunnert, I think crappies may have an image problem ower here...
Fresh fish tastes of the sea. That may sound a bit obvious, but most of the shite in supermarkets tastes of the packaging it comes in. Most of the good fish caught in the UK, especially the expensive stuff, goes abroad or to restaurants. I am afraid the average shopper is left with second rate fish.
We are a bit lucky in still having small fishmongers who source their catches locally.
As ever, those who will end up eating Panga will be the poor.
A great article Rosa.
It all smells a bit fishy to me.
and I am back, boing!
Fish is a big part of my diet too Vronsky. I only buy from the local shop or I go through to Arbroath to the main shop there.
So much evidence around to verify what you say that it surprises me folk still buy fish from supermarkets.
Unfortunately though the reason may well be that local fishmongers have closed over the years.
Jings scunnert, fish all the way from China?
I've never seen a fish consumption guide here but it would be a great idea.
Rename them creppies then Conan, or croppies? Naw you're right.
It's scarey fish and chips shops may be using this fish WW and then folk can't check the source.
Back with a boing I see Billygoat. :)
Conan - aye the name is no very appetizing but the fish is actually very mild tasting. There are two varieties -
the black:
http://tinyurl.com/yghjrvp
and the white:
http://tinyurl.com/yjfk7uc
They have a soft mouth and need a delicate touch when setting the hook. They bite well to a floating minnow and are a great way to get kids into fishing. When cleaning the scales are tough and require a very sharp fillet knife. The flesh is soft and mild tasting and make crappie a great pan fry fish.
They generally run about a pound but can grow very much larger - anglers here call the big ones slabs:
http://tinyurl.com/yk92hk3
I'm going trout fishing tomorrow BTW on the Maitland river:
http://tinyurl.com/ygwhf2l
That's no me though.
Tight lines.
Avoid the Mekong River or get the plague more like!
Mrs Dram and I have have fresh haddock done in our own breadcrumbs once a week and in between times a naturally smoked haddock with mash pots and veggies = Yum.
PS stop reading this, your eyes are too important for this rubbish. Get well soon
PPS am away for my stovies
Got to do something Dram other than sit on the settee with my eyes closed. I'm getting on my own nerves :)
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