Fish 'battering' challenge

By CATHERINE MASTERS

There is nothing fishy about takeaways, say fish suppliers.

The industry has hit back at Green Party advice that consumers cut back on the popular takeaway because of high mercury levels in some fish.

Besides, the suppliers say that shark - implicated as the main mercury offender, and which usually ends up battered and deep-fried - is harder to get than you might think.

Green Party health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley warned that even one meal of the fish a week could add up to too much mercury for some people, particularly infants and pregnant women.

She said a recent Ministry of Health report had found mercury levels in some fish which exceeded the limit set in New Zealand standards.

But Scott Haldane, of Scott Seafood in Henderson, said hardly anyone here still ate shark. He supplied more than 100 Auckland takeaways and none sold it.

That was partly because mercury claims surfaced every so often and put people off eating it, and also because a big export demand for shark in Australia made it too expensive.

"We supply frozen fish throughout New Zealand and we do mainly the takeaway industry. The biggest-selling fish is probably hoki.

"It's one of those things that keeps coming up to haunt the industry."

The Seafood Industry Council says the recommended mercury level in New Zealand is half that of international guidelines.

Chief executive Dr John Valentine said: "What New Zealanders need to remember is that our seafood is arguably the finest in the world and is an essential and nutritious staple of the healthy Kiwi diet."

It was once the case that shark was the main seller in takeaway shops but a whole range of fish was on offer these days.

Dr Valentine also defended the Bluff oyster, which took a "battering" from Ms Kedgley for its high levels of the metal cadmium.

He said there was no evidence that oysters were in any way harmful and a World Health Organisation survey in 1992 found that the human absorption of cadmium from eating Bluff oysters was minimal.