How to buy sustainable seafood in 2022, according to seafood expert Mitch Tonks

Restauranteur and cookbook author Mitch Tonks shares his expert tips on how to find sustainable seafood and cook it at home.

Award-winning chef and author of Fish: The Complete Fish and Seafood Companion, Mitch Tonks, knows seafood, from navigating fishing boats to serving up incredible dishes at his chain of Rockfish restaurants, and he understands that seafood can be an intimidating ingredient for many home cooks – whether it's picking the perfect fillet or choosing how to cook it.

When we spoke, Tonks was fresh off four days on his boat, sailing off the coast of Devon. After a lifetime spent on the water and building an empire of seafood restaurants around the UK, he still takes every opportunity to get out on the sea himself.

“You know, I've seen the coastline so many times but it never ceases to be jaw-dropping,” he says. The restaurateur and cookbook author is perhaps most passionate about sharing the wealth of the ocean with others, stating that “seafood is one of the most joyful eating experiences".

With us, Tonks shared his insights on how to make the fishing industry more sustainable, how to best buy seafood for your household, and how to cook it expertly at home.

Making sustainability a goal

“I've really witnessed the shape of the industry changing,” says Tonks. At his fishmonger in the 1990s, he says, “I used to have all sorts of fish arriving; you know, big halibut, huge turbots, large crab and, in particular, wild salmon from the River Severn. We used to sell cases and cases, and that was the end of it. They were fished out.”

Now, 30 years later, Tonks runs his nine Rockfish restaurants with a focus on sustainability, tracking the entire supply chain of all the seafood served. Tonks also recently launched a project to tackle waste in the fishing industry, delivering fish directly to customers at home with all the ingredients to make delicious seafood meals.

“You know how much fish comes out to sea and ends up going through a supply chain where it deteriorates every day?” Tonks explains that the process between fishing boats to most seafood eaters’ homes leaves room for massive amounts of food waste; most shops buy speculatively, so if there’s not enough demand on any given day, seafood is ultimately wasted.

“Whereas if you can buy directly from the coast with a portion delivered to your home, you cut that whole process out," he says. "And if you waste less then, of course, you need to catch less.”

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Sustainability at home

“There are two things I always say to people. The first is to look towards anything with the MSC certification,” Tonks explains. “And the second is to look towards more local fisheries at a very small scale.”

The Marine Stewardship Council certification ensures seafood is fished using sustainable practices, avoiding overfishing and harmful practices where natural predators such as sharks are targeted, disrupting the natural ecosystems of the ocean.

Your local fishmonger can help you determine not only which fish are sourced using sustainable practices but also give tips on what to buy.

How to buy seafood

Tonks knows serving up a delicious homemade fish dinner can be intimidating for newbies, so he suggests starting with the basics. It all starts with where you buy your seafood because, as Tonks says, “you can't make a bad piece of fish taste good".

“Fresh fish looks immediately vibrant and colourful. The smell should be of the sea,” he explains. “I think most fresh fish smells really beautiful. I really like it, but I don't like the smell of old fish. You know old fish smells of fish and that's the sort of typical smell that people think fish smells like.”

Tonks suggest you can also get clues from looking the fish dead in the eyes. You want “bulging eyes, not sunken dull grey eyes," he adds. As for texture, you want your fish to be firm rather than soft, “and the fish should be slimy," he explains. "That's how they're meant to be.”

Cooking fish at home

Tonks recommends keeping seafood dishes simple – “you know, roasting a piece of fish in a pan and just finishing it with lemon juice and olive oil. You might want to put a few fresh herbs, spices or chilli into it, but just think simple, simple, simple.”

The seafood expert says he often sees home cooks over-complicate their dishes with elaborate sauces or preparations, but the fish itself should be the star of the show.

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Tonks recommends one dish in particular to showcase the bounty of the ocean: seafood spaghetti. “Garlic, olive oil, mussels steamed in their shells, red mullet, squid, prawns. Just toss it together with plenty of parsley and some tomatoes in with cooked pasta, toss it all around,” he describes. “That's one of my favourite dishes.”

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