How would you feel about a side order of seaweed with your roast dinner? A particularly spiny fillet of mackerel? Culture has a lot to say about what humans consume. While seaweed is a popular food in Japan, getting British people to tuck in might require a bit of PR. But becoming accustomed to new fish and sea products could be a valuable way to ensure that overexploited species are not further plundered. Creating new markets for under-utilised, nutritious species, could also boost the livelihoods of local fishing communities.
Josep Lloret, through his work as the Roses Oceans and Human Health chair, is currently looking at such species, round sardinella and horse mackerel, among them. Both are high in health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids but are not routinely consumed in northeastern Spain. “Round sardinella is a thermophilic species,” says Lloret. As the seas warm due to the climate crisis, it is now found more abundantly there than previously. Horse mackerel on the other hand, is an endemic fish highly appreciated by past generations but today unpopular among young consumers. Lloret is working with culinary specialists to understand the best way to present round sardinella, and the spine-laden horse mackerel.
The benefits of increased consumption of such species are threefold: a nutritious source of food for humans, a potentially more sustainable choice over threatened species, and a boost to the livelihoods of local fishing communities.