The Fish in Filet-O-Fish Sandwiches at Risk
Most deep-fried fish sandwiches from chain restaurants—including Denny's, Long John Silver's, and most certainly McDonald's—use hoki, a pretty ugly, bug-eyed fish found deep in the waters around New Zealand. But that may change, according to this New York Times piece.
Drops in hoki spawn and damaged ecosystems have inspired the World Wildlife Fund to fight for reduced hoki fishing. In response, the New Zealand ministry has cut the allowable commercial catch quota from roughly 275,000 tons to 100,000 tons, which means McDonald's had to shrink its usual consumption of about 15 million pounds of hoki to 11 million pounds per year.
"It could go up if the quota goes up," said McDonald's senior director of global purchasing Gary Johnson. While rooting for the overfishing of hoki is probably not the right move here, some of us are definitely rooting for the preservation of the Filet-O-Fish. Would it taste the same with a different fish? Perhaps. Either way, this article confirms that the Filet-O-Fish does in fact contain fish, which is good.
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15 Comments:
Someplace I thought I saw a circa-2007 press statement about how they were shifting to Alaskan-sourced pollock due to Hoki harvesting losing it's Marine Stewardship Council listing. Apparently they still use 11 million pounds of it...
kaszeta at 4:06PM on 09/10/09
So that's where square fish comes from...
beth1 at 4:16PM on 09/10/09
I admit to a fondness of filet o fish. It grieves me that we have overfished as much as we have. The numbers are always so staggering. !! million pounds.
lemonfair at 4:23PM on 09/10/09
Oh man. Filet o Fish is the only sandwich I'll admit I actually crave every once in a while from McDonalds.
LHSK12 at 4:54PM on 09/10/09
I love me a Burgerville Fish sandwich with NORTH PACIFIC HALIBUT. Best chain fish sandwich hands down!
merlyn1117 at 5:17PM on 09/10/09
i wish the sandwich was on the endangered list and not the fish itself....
pooch at 9:46PM on 09/10/09
Hah, I always thought they used some sort of fish flavored protien alternative.
SaltyDonuts at 11:02PM on 09/10/09
What? No filet-o-fish at mcshitolds's? This is the world's tiniest violin...
sailordave at 12:22AM on 09/11/09
Come on now the Filet-o-Fish has never been a candidate for FRESH FISH but I must admit I find it tasty!
jlew911 at 1:37AM on 09/11/09
Filet-o-Fish...No thanks, the idea of American cheese mixed with that combo...Ick.
I have to agree with merlyn1117 Burgerville's Halibut fish sammy rocks!
Scoggdog at 1:55AM on 09/11/09
If McDonald's put half a pound of tartar sauce on the bun and didn't publicize the lack of fish, would any FOF fans notice?
When did they start putting the cheese on the FOF--my gran always used to order it and I don't recall there being cheese on the sandwich.
HeartofGlass at 5:33AM on 09/11/09
@heartofglass - has always been cheese on the sandwich.
lemonfair at 7:00AM on 09/11/09
I prefer the Whaler (whatever it's called now) at BK - wonder where that stuff comes from? Amazing that that is the unhealthiest, or pretty damn close, sandwich on their menu.
I no longer eat at McD, but the Filet-o-Fish is probably the only thing I would eat at McD, other than Portuguese sausage with eggs and rice and caramel sundaes with nuts. I liked it as a kid because the bun was so cute. I love slapping the soft, smooth surface. The thing I didn't like was that searing squirt on my first bite.
Cassaendra at 1:43PM on 09/11/09
The only thing I'd do at McDonalds is use the bathroom. This company is ruining ecosystems all over the world, in the interest of cheap and HORRIBLE food. I can't believe anyone is on a site called "serious eats" extolling its virtues!
I hope McDonald's goes out of business along with every other crap fast-food chain in existance. I yearn for the return of diners and coffee shops in every town with individual character and actual employees who get to know the patrons.
bettb at 5:10PM on 09/12/09
In high school I worked for Mcdonald's, and I have to admit I'd shed no tears to see this go. It's not so much the taste of the sandwich itself-though I've never found it at all appealing- but rather the grudge I bear it after 3 different clumsy coworkers managed to burn me with the dang bun steamer. I swear, that ungainly heap of metal is the most dangerous piece of equipment in that whole place. And for what? Soggy bread *sigh*
Grace at 10:18PM on 09/12/09