Hake, the all round fish, all round the UK!

On Peterhead market this morning, a good run of big hake from the pair-seiner Budding Rose
Photo courtesy of Peter Bruce, skipper Budding Rose.

As if to emphasise the opportunity, both Seafish and Scotland Food and Drink are all promoting hake as the healthier alternative to cod:

"Catches of Northern hake, landed around the UK, are looking plentiful this season – so Seafish, the authority on seafood, is urging consumers to try this excellent whitefish.

Seafish:

Website

Hake used to be a familiar fish to Britons but seems to have fallen from favour at a time when availability is very good. The UK spent only £1.5 million on chilled hake in supermarkets in the past year, compared to £124 million on chilled cod (Nielsen retail figures for 52 weeks leading up to 16 April 2011).

Dr Paul Williams, Seafish chief executive, said: "With properties similar to cod and haddock, hake is an excellent species to try and it’s very good value for money. 

The Scottish pair team of Budding Rose and the Lapwing are reporting big hauls of hake in the North Sea - unusual for them - the two botas are using Twitter and their own blog to keep readers informed. The Newlyn netter, Ajax has begun to use social networking to do the same when fishing off Cornwall.