Catfish For Dinner?

[Richie Hell]

One for the UK only...don't think it's been posted:

Was reading The Grocer Magazine at work (yes, it's thrilling read), and Young's (the seafood company), are introducing Pangasius fillets to the UK market soon. Should be in Asda and Sainsbury soon.

It's part of their food from round the world marketing campaign, and part of their campaign towards eating sustainable fish.

What do you think of that?

I don't eat any fish anyway (hate the taste), but I'm not too keen on the idea of eating non-traditional food fishes (in this country), and ones that come from areas that we usually associate with tropical fish kept in home aquariums (not that many people would have fish that size), or that we expect to seein public aquariums.

What if we next were to get other food fishes, such as Giant Gourami, those friendly loveable creatures that are everyone's favourite and pop up in nearly public display?

 

[cooky]

I would be happy if all the fish stopped being sold it wouldn't bother me i eat fish but i could live without it


I also think more fish should be farmed i know its been tried for years to get such fish as cod etc to grow but if they wanted to do it they could


as for fish from around the world i think its wrong to bring it in leave the poor fish alone in there enviroment

 

[chilledtim]

Depends what it taste like, There fast growing and sustainable.

Lots of non-uk fish are common uk food (Tuna)

Undecided on this to be honest. but not against.....or for

 

[The-Wolf]

as for fish from around the world i think its wrong to bring it in, leave the poor fish alone in there enviroment

so why do you have a fish tank with tropical fish then?

maybe this will stop people from buying pangasius in lfs's therfor leading to them stopping ordering them
ultimatly leading to wholesalers not bothering to import them in the first place.

this could very well be a good thing

 

[OohFeeshy]

The pangasius fillets won't be from species kept in aquaria- not much meat on one of them to make the processing etc worthwhile.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

What if we next were to get other food fishes, such as Giant Gourami, those friendly loveable creatures that are everyone's favourite and pop up in nearly public display?

I don't think fish like giant gourami's are superior to other fish purely because we choose to keep them as pets. Any fish can be a pet just as much as it can be food for someone. Whats to say that fish like cod and salmon aren't loveable like giant gourami's? The only reason why we people don't sell them off as pets is because there isn't a strong desire from the general public to keep them.
People keep rabbits and chickens as pets just as people eat rabbits and chickens, in germany they eat horses while we keep them as companions, we eat cows and pigs but in other countries or religions that would be extremely frowned upon etc etc. As long as the animal in question is properly raised for human consumption from birth in a good and appropriate manner and is slaughtered in a humane manner, then i do not see what is wrong with it.
I do not see one type of animal superior from another based purely on whether people in general like to eat it or keep it is a pet.


I think as long as the Pangasius are sustainable and the species will not be endangered or threatened by us eating it and the environment will also not suffer, then as long as the fish are healthy and raised properly for human consumption then i don't see anything wrong with it.
Pangasius are massive growing fish and to be honest i wish they didn't sell them at all in the hobby since so few people are able to accomodate them properly/adequately and many end up suffering and dying in tanks too small for them.

 

[cooky]

as for fish from around the world i think its wrong to bring it in, leave the poor fish alone in there enviroment

so why do you have a fish tank with tropical fish then?

most are breed in captivity and also im not going to eat them

 

[invader]

as for fish from around the world i think its wrong to bring it in, leave the poor fish alone in there enviroment

so why do you have a fish tank with tropical fish then?

most are breed in captivity and also im not going to eat them

They had to come from somewhere originally...

 

[Tessla]

Farmed catfish are bred in captivity, so are sheep, cows, pigs and poultry. A great many tropical fish and almost all tropical saltwater fish are wild caught. Really, what's the fuss over eating something that is also kept as a pet? In the case of channel and Pangasius cats and giant gouramis, we're making pets out of what are normally food animals, it's like keeping pet chickens, rabbits or pigs (yes, I've done this and I have no problem eating all of the above). I wouldn't eat an individual pet, but I wouldn't have trouble eating the same species raised as food.

We get a lot of farmed catfish in the US, mostly channel cats but also the occasional Pangasius (and they are both delicious). My biggest concern with farmed fish is pesticide contamination, I know this was a big issue for catfish a while back but doesn't seem to be much of a problem recently with the US farmed channel cats at least. Farming fish is often more damaging than fishing exising populations, especially in the case of seagoing trout (salmon, steelhead), not to mention you get many more contaminants from pesticides and medications and the fish generally taste awful compared to their wild counterparts. The only cases I'm aware of that are actually better for the environment would be freshwater fish and shellfish.

 

[cooky]

as for fish from around the world i think its wrong to bring it in, leave the poor fish alone in there enviroment

so why do you have a fish tank with tropical fish then?

most are breed in captivity and also im not going to eat them

They had to come from somewhere originally...

yep they sure do so do rabbits, dogs,cats, horses i could go on but with breeding they become used to it as they know nothing else


but im not going to eat a dog or a cat WOULD you

 

[puppyduck]

The Pangasius catfish in our shops is being farmed in the Mekong Delta.

I guess I really don't have a problem with eating a 'pet'. I didn't use to like the idea of eating lamb, till I tried it. I won't eat duck though. Maybe I should try it? Don't have a problem with chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, etc.

Seems weird because it's a non-traditional food fish (in the UK). Like if we started eating dog. Not quite as extreme though.

Despite that, Young's say that UK consumers are very liberal and don't seem phased by the prospect of new non-traditional foods.

If you're interested, it will be sold covered in breadcrumbs, infused with lime and ginger.

 

[Richie Hell]

That was me, forgot my girlfriend was logged in

 

[OohFeeshy]

most are breed in captivity and also im not going to eat them

Wrong, it wouldn't suprise me if more are wild caught than captive bred. Just to point out, captive breeding is why dwarf gouramis, guppies etc. are so weak and fragile. Besides which, a lot of captive breeding areas are little different to wild breeding areas, except one has far fewer predators than the other... And whether you're going to eat them or not is irrelavent- many aquarium fish are food fish, even the smaller ones like weather loaches, gouramis and similar...

yep they sure do so do rabbits, dogs,cats, horses i could go on but with breeding they become used to it as they know nothing else


but im not going to eat a dog or a cat WOULD you

Again, irrelavent. You have a very strange set of ethics indeed. Almost all animals are eaten somewhere, and almost all animals are kept as pets/in captivity somewhere. Makes no real odds.

If you're interested, it will be sold covered in breadcrumbs, infused with lime and ginger.

Interesting... I'd eat them. Then again, I'll try anything once. Any idea on the species they're farming? As I said earlier, it'll probably be one of the larger ones (not saying pangasius are small, but in the food fish area they are fairly small), but you never know. Certainly means the sustainable stocks comittee can't whinge.

Edit- Nevermind, found the page. Here's the Fishbase entry, for those interested
http/www.fishbase.com/Summary/SpeciesSum...FTOKEN=48598644

Interesting- it does appear to be one of the main aquarium fish. Well, at least that solves one tankbuster problem... That would certainly be an idea- it's another way of self sustainability... The article was last month- methinks a trip to Sainsburys is in order... not least to visit the LFS inside

 

[cheesy feet]

The Pangasius catfish in our shops is being farmed in the Mekong Delta.

I guess I really don't have a problem with eating a 'pet'. I didn't use to like the idea of eating lamb, till I tried it. I won't eat duck though. Maybe I should try it? Don't have a problem with chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows, etc.

Seems weird because it's a non-traditional food fish (in the UK). Like if we started eating dog. Not quite as extreme though.

Despite that, Young's say that UK consumers are very liberal and don't seem phased by the prospect of new non-traditional foods.

If you're interested, it will be sold covered in breadcrumbs, infused with lime and ginger.

I personally don't have a problem with any animal being eaten (well I do when it is unneccesary or for a silly purpose).I eat duck,it's lovely! I also eat chicken,turkey,beef,lamb,Pork & swordfish(Sp.Only fish i like,when cooked in grece atleast).Meat is good!

 

[Boids-n-more]

I would try it atleast once. If it was good i might just raise them in my tanks so i would know what they were being fed and then when they got big enough , it would be a fish fry time lol.