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How much do you love fish and chips? We absolutely love them, especially the fish, and especially with a squeeze of lemon and some tartare sauce. By the way, what is actually in tartare sauce? What are those chunks? Does anyone know?

Fish and chips are a great treat. But they should just be a treat, not something you have all the time.

This is not just because fish and chips are bad for your waistline, but also because our oceans are running out of fish!!! Believe it or not, the old saying “there’s plenty more fish in the sea” is no longer true.

What’s happened?

Well, in some parts of the world we have been over-fishing. Over-fishing happens when fish are caught faster than they can breed. Today’s massive fishing nets cover deeper and larger oceans, catching more and more fish.

Quite a few species of fish are in trouble, including one of our favourites - tuna.

It’s not all bad though: we can farm fish. How? Well, like fields of sheep on land, fish-farmers make fields of fish in the sea. The fish are surrounded by big nets and are fed their favourite food until they’re big and fat and ready to eat. Blue-fin Tuna (image courtesy of Greenpeace)

But we need to be careful with the fish farms. Keeping the fish in a crowded space can make them sick and sometime the sickness can spread to the wild fish. It is a bit like a cold spreading around to all the kids at school. Also, heaps of wild fish need to be caught and turned into food to feed the farmed fish.

How can you help? Be careful with the fish that you eat. Look at the next pages to find out which fishes are happy and healthy and are good to eat in your fish and chips.