Cod has its chips as saithe nets customers

Nick Ray, 41, has been the manager of Polegate Fisheries, High Street, Polegate, since 1992.

The fish-and-chip boss was worried about cod stocks and prices after high consumer demands.

A variety of fish called saithe has now found a place on the menu as an alternative to cod.

Mr Ray believes customers love splashing salt and vinegar over the new fish.

He said: 'I went to a wet fish shop to pick up some fish and I was talking to a guy.

'He mentioned he had started selling saithe.

'I got in touch with my fish supplier and he told me they did it.

'Saithe has been around for a while but no one uses it.'

Saithe (pollachius virens), a variation of coley, tastes similar to cod but it has a darker flesh.

Mr Ray has sold saithe for a year, and more and more people are getting their forks into it.

He said: 'We are looking after cod stocks and the business as well.

'I do not want to be selling burgers only in 10 years' time.

'It is getting people to actually try saithe which is the problem.

'I would say 99 per cent of people who do really like it.

'The majority of them wish they had eaten it before.'

Mr Ray and the staff at the shop now prefer eating saithe to cod.

Saithe comes from the same fish family as cod.

It is distributed in the Atlantic and along the Norwegian coast.