COD SUPPER HAS HAD ITS CHIPS.. Fears Ireland's favourite fish faces extinction.Byline: BY PAT FLANAGAN and LYNNE KELLEHER FISH and chips fish and chips pl.n. Fried fillets of fish and French-fried potatoes. Noun 1. fish and chips - fried fish and french-fried potatoes dish - a particular item of prepared food; "she prepared a special dish for dinner" could soon be off the menu as cod stocks in Irish waters decline, raising fears it will soon become extinct. Experts believe the humble cod may have had its chips and, in a few years, the much-loved fish supper will be a thing of the past. Stocks in the Irish Sea have taken a battering in recent years and we could soon be saying goodbye to the nation's favourite fish. The Irish fish board, Bord Iascaigh Mhara An Bord Iascaigh Mhara or BIM (English: The Irish Sea Fisheries Board) is the agency of the Irish State with responsibility for developing the Irish marine fishing and aquaculture industries. , believe it could soon become a luxury food if it continues to be over-fished. BIM BIM Building Information Modeling BIM Building Information Model BIM Bord Iascaigh Mhara (Irish Sea Fisheries Board) BIM Brussels Instituut voor Milieubeheer (Belgium) BIM Bharathidasan Institute of Management spokesman Michael Keating said: "I think we will see some of the traditional stocks disappear. "I am not saying they will be completely biologically extinct but they will certainly be economically extinct. "Cod stocks out here on the Irish Sea are at an all-time low which means there is not enough stock to reproduce and maintain catches. "There are still cod out there but they are in serious trouble." The Fisheries Development Manager told RTE's Ear To The Ground he believes a fish supper will no longer be a budget fast food. He said: "A cheap fish meal is a thing of the past. It is a nutritious, organic healthy food which people risk their lives to go out and catch. "White fish is a luxury food item. There are smaller populations of white fish than in the past and it is quite hard to find." Mr Keating added Irish people will also need to widen their taste and move away from traditional seafood dishes. He said: "We basically know five fish which are cod, haddock, whiting, plaice plaice: see flatfish. plaice Commercially valuable European flatfish (Pleuronectes platessa). At most 36 in. (90 cm) long, the plaice normally has both eyes on the right side of the head and four to seven bony bumps near its eyes. and sole. "Cod is a favourite and has always been used in chippers but there are alternative white fish species, like pollack or saithe saithe Noun Brit a dark-coloured food fish found in northern seas [Old Norse seithr coalfish] , out there which can be substituted." The fisheries expert said a small quota of cod can be fished from the Celtic Sea off the south coast but stocks need to be carefully managed. We're hooked WE tuck into 35lbs of fish per person each year which is still almost a third less than the European average of 48lbs. Most of this comprises of cod, haddock, whiting, plaice and sole. The seafood-mad Japanese eat 211lbs of seafood each year. CAPTION(S): OFF THE MENU Chippers nationwide may stop serving cod |
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