The Guardian has a piece on a survey which says that ‘Britons struggle to name common fish, while two-fifths admit that they have “only ever eaten it in batter or breadcrumbs”.’
‘Over half of those surveyed had no idea that a John Dory was a spiny fish; 12% mistakenly thought “he” was a famous poet, according to the Marine Stewardship Council poll.
‘Another 6% said the only pollock they had heard of was the American artist Jackson Pollock. A similar number thought that a hake was a garden tool.’
Would Jackson pollock fans have been delighted that as many as six per cent recognised who he was? A hake might easily be a dialect word for a rake so is excusable.
‘It confirmed that 60% had never tried John Dory, which is a common sea fish…’ To show how surveys should always be taken with a pinch of salt, and lots of vinegar if eating fish and chips, this writer read ‘John Dory’ as ‘Richard Cory’, a Simon and Garfunkel song about an American capitalist.
The poll came from the Marine Stewardship Council, who say that in September they are, ‘encouraging people to try something different”, particularly sustainable varieties of fish and seafood caught by fishing communities around the UK.’ So a marketing exercise then.
So how many, or how few, would respond to a survey asking what was the cause of many of the life problems they were experiencing on a day to day basis? Would ‘capitalism’ top the list? Knowledge is power. The MSC is encouraging people to learn more about fish.
The below is from the Socialist Standard March 1942
Conchies equals Conscientious Objectors
‘The Sunday Pictorial publishes letters from its readers under the title of "Voice of the People." On Sunday, January 25th, a hater of conchies urged that they should all be made to catch fish with pay at 1s. a day. Alternatively, they should be issued with conspicuously marked ration books which only allowed them foods which men have NOT risked their lives to get.
[This is similar to Covid when people who said they would inject themselves with unknown substances were threatened with all sorts of additional freedom restrictions.]
So conchies should catch fish for one shilling a day! Speaking of fish, we remember a time when particularly large catches of fish were thrown back into the sea. This happened, of course, in the piping days of peace and prosperity. They were discarded, because certain interested capitalists feared that so large an abundance might interfere with their rate of profit. Many workers, particularly the free unemployed, would have enjoyed some of this "surplus" fish.
May we be permitted to suggest that it would be quite a good idea to make the individuals responsible do a spot of fishing themselves. Possibly, after several months at sea, they would consider the advisability of tipping unwanted catches into the briny.
But, of course, these people are not conscientious objectors. They are busy trying to fight, or urging others to fight, for freedom—the freedom to burn food, pour milk down the drains, use wheat as fuel, and, of course, thrown fish into the sea, as their profit-making activities require.
The view that conchies should not be allowed to eat food for which other men have risked their lives affords us some cynical amusement. Workers also risk their lives during the periods of capitalist peace. They suffer mutilation and death in the mines and factories. And the fruit of their labour is used to make easy and joyful the lives of the propertied few. Shall we issue these people with specially marked ration books? But ah, they are not conscientious objectors.’
Kaye
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/06/fish-and-conchies-1942.html
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