Foraging for Food on the Coast/Shore

[oddgitt]

Hi All,

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but here goes...

I'm off to the coast at the weekend to see if I can find me some free wild food! Been inspired by programs like the River Cottage et al and it looks like a good day out and a responsible way to catch fresh food and find interesting sea-veg!

Anyone here know of any good places to do this? (I'm thinking east coast but it's not imperative).

Any tips on where & what to look for? What equipment to take?

The UK Rockpooling organisation seems to be anti-killing stuff - however all the other sources I can find on the tinterweb seem to be very much for finding your own food like crabs, whelks and mussels etc. Can anyone else comment? (I suppose if your catching it to eat it's alot different to needlessly killing them, which I think is their main concern...).

Any advice appreciated!

[nigel_b]

Eeeerrr have fun, be safe, check the tide tables, take a charged up mobile phone, thats it!

[ring ouzel]

Hope you had fun by the sea. If you dont already have it then the River Cottage Handbook No5 'Edible Seashore' by John Wright is the one to go for. It would also be useful taking a guide to the seashore - Collins do a reasonable one.

Happy Chomping!

[valleyforge]

[quote=oddgitt;515624] I suppose if your catching it to eat it's alot different to needlessly killing them, which I think is their main concern....
QUOTE]

If you were possibly a little more self-aware, and perhaps a little less self-obsessed, you might see the irony in that statement.

Filter feeders such as whelks (buckies) and mussels tend to concentrate toxic heavy metals, but if your role model is HF-W, then what the hell?

[nodd]

Originally Posted by oddgitt

Hi All,

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but here goes...

I'm off to the coast at the weekend to see if I can find me some free wild food! Been inspired by programs like the River Cottage et al and it looks like a good day out and a responsible way to catch fresh food and find interesting sea-veg!

Anyone here know of any good places to do this? (I'm thinking east coast but it's not imperative).

Any tips on where & what to look for? What equipment to take?

The UK Rockpooling organisation seems to be anti-killing stuff - however all the other sources I can find on the tinterweb seem to be very much for finding your own food like crabs, whelks and mussels etc. Can anyone else comment? (I suppose if your catching it to eat it's alot different to needlessly killing them, which I think is their main concern...).

Any advice appreciated!

Hi Oddgit
A copy of this book would be handy it full of usfull information.
River Cottage Handbook No.5 Edible Seashore by John Wright ISBN 978 0 74759531 1; today price £14.99 waterstone's are knocking £4.00 of at the moment . I just had a quick look through it and it looks to be a good read with a lot of information on what,when and how to cook as well as how to forage for it on the seashore.
It covers flowering plants,seaweeds,mollusc sand crustaceans each item has sub headings
of habitat ,distribution ,season and conservation status and then a section on how to eat it.In the back of the book there is a recipe section all the photos in book are in colour.
Another one in the series that looks interesting is the River Cottage Mushroom Handbook by the same author and the same lay out .
Neil

[oddgitt]

[quote=valleyforge;517777]

Originally Posted by oddgitt

I suppose if your catching it to eat it's alot different to needlessly killing them, which I think is their main concern....
QUOTE]

If you were possibly a little more self-aware, and perhaps a little less self-obsessed, you might see the irony in that statement.
Filter feeders such as whelks (buckies) and mussels tend to concentrate toxic heavy metals, but if your role model is HF-W, then what the hell?

A comment like that couldn't come from anyone other than a veggie... am I correct?

[oddgitt]

Originally Posted by nodd

Hi Oddgit
A copy of this book would be handy it full of usfull information.
River Cottage Handbook No.5 Edible Seashore by John Wright ISBN 978 0 74759531 1; today price £14.99 waterstone's are knocking £4.00 of at the moment . I just had a quick look through it and it looks to be a good read with a lot of information on what,when and how to cook as well as how to forage for it on the seashore.
It covers flowering plants,seaweeds,mollusc sand crustaceans each item has sub headings
of habitat ,distribution ,season and conservation status and then a section on how to eat it.In the back of the book there is a recipe section all the photos in book are in colour.
Another one in the series that looks interesting is the River Cottage Mushroom Handbook by the same author and the same lay out .
Neil

Great response, thank you Neil!

[tcvarlh]

if you had a definite idea of where you intended to go I think you would have had more advice oddgit (great name btw) I would suggest making sure of tides and locating and advising the coastguard of your intentions, just in case. Take a guidebook too, not all the foodstuffs out there are too healthy for us mere humans. As they say back home 'Weidmanns heil' Good hunting!
h

[Monkey Orchid]

Seaweeds are yummy! Maybe take some basic foodstuffs along for cooking with and supplement these with your coastal foraged foods - that way you won't be denuding the shore too much of life to fill your plate.

If you're going to sample shellfish/filter feeders, be cautious of things like sewage pollution and algal contamination, especially in summer.
public_health_&_shellfish

Maybe your best bet (at least for the first foray or two) would be to join an organised seashore wild food walk or workshop, like this one organised by Devon-based Wildwise:

http://www.wildwise.co.uk/seashore-edibles.html

Wild foods are fun, and responsible collection for occasional personal culinary use shouldn't have any more impact on plant and animal populations than the average family going rockpooling or beachcombing. As long as you find out beforehand about the ecology of the wildlife you harvest, and then collect with sensitivity and moderation, I don't see why you shouldn't enjoy exploring nature in this way.

It becomes more of an issue if people harvest certain things regularly, and don't allow populations to recover. In cultures where wild foods do form a regular part of the diet, a certain amount of natural resource husbandry usually goes on - the people who rely on these foods are generally well aware of how much (or how little) harvesting these wild resources can sustain, and limit their exploitation of them accordingly. Where this doesn't happen, wildlife suffers.

So I guess I would suggest the bottom line is: find out about your local patch; be aware of the potential impact your gastronomic grazing will have; help conserve coastal wildlife by supporting or joining in with some marine conservation projects; and enjoy munching your seaweeds!