Whitebait?
Jul 12, 2016, 4:00 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,013
Whitebait?
I was at a nice pub in Kent last week with my mom and her Irish partner. He ordered a plate of "whitebait". He loved them and said it's an old school favorite. They were deep fried. Herring?
Jul 12, 2016, 6:38 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,008
Whitebait
Given that UK and imported whitebait still consists of immature herring, sprat, sardines, mackerel, bass and many others, it is not an ecologically viable foodstuff. Removing these fish at such a juvenile stage, before they have had a chance to grow and reproduce, might severely reduce future fish stocks. The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is a non-government organisation that provides independent information on the sustainability of fish stocks and species around the world, and has a rating system for fish sustainability, in order to safeguard future stocks [2]. The MCS suggests avoiding eating and purchasing the juvenile whitebait as it is detrimental to sustainable fish populations.
Jul 13, 2016, 10:54 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,013
Jul 13, 2016, 1:21 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: About 45 miles NW of MCO
Programs: Acapulco - Gold, Panama - Red, Timothy Leary 8 Mile High Club
Posts: 29,247
White bait, OTOH, what's in a name?
I found them on a pub menu in Devon one time as "Blanc Bait". I asked my dining companion and he said the pub was putting on airs.
Jul 13, 2016, 1:53 pm
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Redondo Beach, Ca
Posts: 30,745
Jul 13, 2016, 2:02 pm
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: ORD
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 16,901
If you're looking for a serious answer...
Whitebait are apparently harvested in such a way that they deplete the stock that eventually grows into actual fish, meaning a depopulation of same.
Chickens are raised specifically to produce eggs (and eventually wonderful chicken soup) without compromising the availability of other chickens that are bred to become KFC. As far as I know, there is no chicken shortage at the moment.
Whitebait are apparently harvested in such a way that they deplete the stock that eventually grows into actual fish, meaning a depopulation of same.
Chickens are raised specifically to produce eggs (and eventually wonderful chicken soup) without compromising the availability of other chickens that are bred to become KFC. As far as I know, there is no chicken shortage at the moment.
Jul 14, 2016, 6:58 am
#13
Moderator: CommunityBuzz!, OMNI, OMNI/PR, and OMNI/Games & FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: ORD (MDW stinks)
Programs: UAMM, AAMM & ExPlat, Marriott lifetime Plat, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 23,506
I think you are referring to smelt.
I've only seem them netted along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Jul 14, 2016, 7:13 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: About 45 miles NW of MCO
Programs: Acapulco - Gold, Panama - Red, Timothy Leary 8 Mile High Club
Posts: 29,247
Neither could be legally netted although I can understand the temptation. They're not very interested in feeding when all they're thinking about it reproducing. You watch hundreds, thousands even, of fish swimming under the boat without a single bite. Shad darts are said to provoke strikes out of annoyance rather than hunger. I can't say I ever saw anyone catch a herring, if that's what they were.
I looked and they are blueback herring. They spawn in fresh water and are endangered. The count at the fish elevator went from a high of 600,000 to a low of 21 in 2006. Eek!
Last edited by BamaVol; Jul 14, 2016 at 12:27 pm
Jul 14, 2016, 7:56 am
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: CHA, MAN;
Programs: Delta DM 1 MM; Hz PC
Posts: 11,169