Do Not Mess With Fish 139,

and you thought fish were fun!

well they will be if you like eating these, tilapia, big head carp or indeed pangasius catfish, for that is the latest thinking to help our dwindling cod stocks, Scientists are working on bringing exotic Asian freshwater fish to British dinner tables, already the Bournemouth University researchers say the fish have passed a crucial blind taste test, serving the fish in traditional batter to 100 consumers, they found that 39% preferred the pangasius while 16% preferred carp and 43% said they preferred the traditional cod, they can be reared in a more environmentally friendly fashion as they are plant eaters, meaning they do not need the tonnes of small wild fish caught from the sea which feed farmed trout and salmon, Sean Graham, who is leading the project at Bournemouth University's department of conservation ecology, said, 'we have been trying to identify species of fish that can be reared in a sustainable way in freshwater environments',

all very laudable, but there is a slight snag, but two of the above species are tropical fish, the carp tolarating cooler water, the others can not survive our cold UK waters, the only way for a scheme like this to work is to heat the water, way to expensive, or use water that has been heated and is then not wanted, think the cooling water outlets of a nuclear power plant, having said that any power planet that has waste hot water would suffice, or say a paper mill that returns hot water to a river, of course if the water is unfit for aquatic life, heat exchangers could be used to warm water for the fish to be grown in, as an aside Diana often cooks fish and chips for supper, the species is pangasius which is locally known as dory, very nice it is too.