Rockall orange roughy nuggets, snake mackerel fillets and Portuguese dogfish cakes could oust cod on the fast fish menu within the next few years, according to the Teagasc National Food Centre.
The common whitefish may soon be passed up by Baird's smooth-head, spotted wolf-fish, leaf-scale gulper shark and other cosmopolitan species found in Irish waters, the most recent results from the Teagasc survey on fish-eating habits has concluded.
The deep-water orange roughy was given the top score by the consumer taste panels set up by Teagasc, in association with the Marine Institute's Fisheries Research Centre. All of these species have one drawback - they frequent deep water - but their main advantage is that they are not yet subject to EU quota restrictions.
Outlining the results at a seminar in Dublin yesterday, Dr Martine Brennan of Teagasc said: "As traditional fish stocks dwindle and quotas tighten, the use of under-utilised fish species assumes a new importance. There are no quotas on these species, so their commercialisation could lead to an expansion of the fishing industry."
The research, which was highlighted in this newspaper last month, does not tally with market surveys undertaken by some of the multinationals here. For instance, tilapia, or St Peter's Fish, has become one of the world's most successful freshwater farmed species, and is due to be introduced on the British market.
However, Tesco Ireland recently told The Irish Times that it was not being sold here as fish consumers were a cautious lot - tending to stick to the old Friday reliables, such as cod.
Earlier this week, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, suggested that restrictions on quantity of fish landed could be circumvented by the emphasis on quality - and attendant higher price - when he published a Bord Iascaigh Mhara guide to better handling techniques.
