Yet, while the fish and chip shop industry has begun to embrace mackerel, fish-lovers keen to serve up mackerel baps themselves have been unable to find battered mackerel fillets. Step up fish specialists Young’s who have launched a new Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified Chip Shop Mackerel so that – for the first time – you can try the mackerel bap at home.
The introduction of Young’s Chip Shop Mackerel was inspired by the Fish Fight programmes shown on Channel 4 earlier this year. The programmes highlighted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘Mackerel Mission’, to encourage more people to try sustainable mackerel at Fish and Chip shops and this new product has been launched to give a way for consumers to enjoy mackerel baps in their own homes.
The battered mackerel comes from certified sustainable fishing boats in Scotland and carries the MSC’s ‘Certified Sustainable Seafood’ ecolabel. Young's has a lot of experience working with mackerel and has been looking for ways to increase its profile for some time. Now, inspired by the TV programme, Young’s is giving mackerel more exposure by adding it to the Chip Shop range.
‘…fantastic and innovative’ Toby Middleton, from the MSC says: “This is a fantastic and innovative product from a really forward-looking company. Thanks to Youngs’ experience with battered, frozen fish, people across the country will get the chance to try a unique and sustainable fish dish. The MSC certified Scottish mackerel fishermen haven’t just said that they are sustainable, they’ve proved it and, thanks to the blue MSC label on the box, you can be sure that the mackerel can be traced back to those certified sustainable Scottish fishing boats.”
Leendert den Hollander, Chief Executive of Young’s Seafood Limited said: “We’re delighted to be working with Tesco and Morrison’s to give consumers an easy and delicious way to try different species of sustainable fish. We take our responsibilities very seriously and that’s why one of the actions we take is to encourage consumers to try a wide variety of fish species. We hope consumers who’ve backed the Fish Fight will help make this product a success.”
