Followfood Fish specialities

For at least 40,000 years, humans have relied on the sea as a source of food. Archaeological findings show that as early as the Stone Age, fish were caught using simple harpoons, spears, and traps. In antiquity, the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans developed sophisticated nets and fish weirs. Instead of merely covering their own needs, fishermen were now able to sell their surplus catch. This led to fishing becoming an important economic sector in many regions. As long as fishermen had to pull their nets back into the boat by hand, their impact on fish populations remained relatively small. However, with technological advancements and increasingly powerful ships and fishing equipment, this has fundamentally changed. Today, satellite navigation, sonar, and massive trawl nets allow enormous quantities of fish to be extracted from the oceans in a very short time.

The oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface. Because of this sheer boundless expanse, it is often underestimated how serious the impact of industrial fishing actually is. Globally, 33% of commercially exploited fish stocks are now considered to be overfished and almost 50% are considered to be fully utilised. But even marine creatures that are not caught deliberately are under threat. This is due to kilometre-long drift nets in which dolphins, sea turtles and sharks die in agony alongside tuna. The uncontrolled use of decoy buoys is just as problematic. This technique artificially attracts entire schools of fish, but also catches masses of juvenile fish and other marine animals. Especially for tuna fishing in tropical waters, decoy buoys are now almost common practice.

Nobody disputes that the situation is alarming. To stop the overfishing of the oceans, sustainable providers are focussing on ecological aquacultures and traditional fishing methods. These include for example pole-and-line fishing, in which the fish are caught individually with a fishing rod or hand line. Due to the high level of selection, there is hardly any by-catch and the marine ecosystem remains largely intact. This fishing method is particularly suitable for larger fish species such as tuna, cod or mackerel. Another tried and tested fishing method is longline fishing. Here, long lines with many individual hooks are lowered into the sea to catch specific species of fish such as swordfish, tuna or halibut. In addition to the careful placement of the line, the selection of special hooks and bait to reduce bycatch is crucial. For schooling fish, purse seine fishing without fish aggregating devices (FADs) is a more gentle net fishing method. A net is deployed in a circular shape around a naturally occurring fish school and then drawn together. Since no artificial attractants are used, unwanted bycatch remains low.

Biodiversity and the ecosystem of marine flora and fauna are also close to the heart of the manufacturer Followfood. That is why Followfood only processes farmed fish from organic aquaculture or wild fish from MSC-certified fisheries. Whether in their own juice or in sunflower oil, Followfood tuna fillets are just as delicious on pizzas as they are on sandwiches or in salads. Sustainably caught tuna is also centre stage in Followfood tuna salads. The ready-to-eat fish salads with tasty vegetables and finely balanced spices indulge the palate in the varieties Italian, Indian Curry and México. For brunch, canapés with Followfood organic salmon spreads are a real highlight. For the herring fillets in organic mustard sauce, sustainably fished herring is marinated in a savoury sauce made from medium-hot mustard, sunflower oil, white wine vinegar and spices. The hot-smoked sprats in organic sunflower oil are a fish speciality that goes wonderfully with a crispy baguette or dark wholemeal bread. The range of MSC-certified Followfood fish specialities is as colourful as the underwater world. Treat yourself to fish with a clear conscience.