THE sea is a fantastic resource. It is so productive that everyone could live off its bounty – and the stocks of fish would still be safe. However, factory fishing and processing in ways that are unsustainable render the fish of the world increasingly sparse. Fish of all kinds are used to feed cattle, poultry, pigs and all kinds of farm animal. For most of the various products you buy on the shelves, fish have had a hand in its production.

However, if we caught our own fish, killed and gutted it ourselves we would be doing fishkind a great service, as well as our families for the great produce we would be bringing to the table.

In Europe, and much of the world, most of the fish comes from the waters of the UK.The Spanish eat pilchards. (Oh what lovely pilchards they are too!) they come from Devon. Italy is famous for expensive Frito Misto and the herring and the squid and the whitebait all came from British waters.

Buy vongole in some Venetian restaurant and the cockles came from Morecambe Bay. Yet in England we turn our noses up at the greatest resources there is in this country. Shame on us!

If you are thinking about any sort of self sufficiency then a trip to the sea side should be at least a monthly occurrence. All you need is a little knowledge, a rod of almost any old sort will bag you some herring, a net for shrimping and a little imagination when it comes to molluscs.

Mackerel

At almost any time of year you can start catching mackerel. You catch them on feathers – which are shiny looking lures that you buy from the bait shop. They can have up to six hooks on them. You simply cast them out and then slowly pull them in. On most casts you will catch fish. You stand on a rock at the beach and spend the whole day (or night) casting in the fresh air.

A million things to do with a herring

The song "You shall have a fishy on a little dishy" is testament to how the herring boats in the north east of England fed the population. One of the basic skills of the kitchen used to be gutting and filleting. People imagine this to be a messy job, but it really doesn't have to be. There are many ways of doing this and I find my method to work well.

Cut the dorsal fin from the fish's back with a pair of scissors.

First remove the heads behind the gills and also the tail. You need a very sharp, stout knife for this.

On the belly of the fish, insert the knife into what would have been the fish's bottom, with the blade facing outwards. Draw the knife all the way up the belly dividing the fish into tow. Repeat the manoeuvre opening up the tail end.

Because the head and tail have already been removed, the gut will fall out of the fish, especially if encouraged to do so with the thumb. Wash the inside under the cold tap.

To fillet the fish, cut along its back until you feel the backbone.

Continue to draw the knife to one side of the backbone, paring away the flesh, leaving the bones behind. You will get the odd bone left in the fillet, these can easily be removed with a pair of tweezers. Repeat the process for the other half of the fish.

Once you have your fillets there are millions of recipes for them. You can roll them up, pierce them with a cocktail stick and soak in spiced peppered vinegar, when they are called roll mops. Coat them in seasoned oatmeal and lightly fry them in butter.

Finely grater garlic over the fillets that have been brushed with a little olive oil and grill for three minutes.

Herring Frito Misto

This is nothing more than a plate of fried fish, and should have herring fillets as a major constituent. Include also, sardines, whitebait and a good quality cod or haddock cut into generously sized cubes.

Simply fry the fish individually and drain onto a kitchen towel. The whitebait can be fried by the handful. Place them in a plastic bag with a good tablespoon of seasoned flower. Close the neck of the bag and lightly shake to incorporate the flower and fish. Empty the whitebait into your frying basket and carefully plunge into extremely hot oil until golden brown.

Serve all the fish together with a green salad and tartar sauce. Lovely!

Cockles

Cockles live in large areas of mud flats, on the sides of estuaries, and on open sandy areas of the inter-tidal zone.

They feed in shallow water and bury themselves under the surface when the tide goes out which makes them relatively easy to rake up. If you are going to do this however, watch out for fast incoming tides and quicksand and get as much information as you can about the area. If you go to some large estuarine beaches you will find gangs of people who are working their patch. Explain to them that you are only scratching a bag full for personal use. You will be rewarded with friendly banter and some tips as to where the best places are.

Boil the cockles for a couple of minutes and then work out the flesh into a jar of vinegar. An hour’s work will provide you with pizza toppings and the very best steak and kidney pie additives for a couple of months.

Mussels are found on jetties and piers and attached to rocks. All you have to do is pull them off, but check first about the sewage status of the beach. They will keep fresh in a bit of ice – one of those insulated picnic boxes with a couple of frozen bars inside is sufficient.

Razor clams burrow vertically into the sand and leave breathing holes at the tops of their tunnels. You can see their indentations in the sand at low tide. All you have to do is pour a handful of salt on the hole and in a few seconds the clam will come flying out. You can boil or steam them first – which also kills them and then treat the meat like scallop.

Limpets are brilliant, cooked in wine and garlic, they make a brilliant sauce. It’s a bit like eating the ocean. You need to take only the live ones.

To find out which you have to catch carefully and wear boots. At low tiede pour seawater over them and they will start to loosen. If it doesn’t move then leave it. Alternatively, when the tide is in, give it a tap and it should tighten up to the rock. If the animal moves, kick it off the rock with your good boots.

Cook them quickly. Boiled first, remove them from their shells then add them to your dish instead of other molluscs.

Rules for molluscs

To begin with there are some rules about preparing molluscs for eating. When you collect them they should be eaten as soon as possible. Any open shells should be discarded if, once tapped on the table, they remain so. Some molluscs hold themselves to rocks with strands of protein called beards, which should be pulled away to stop them spoiling the dish.

Scrub the shells in running water.

Once cooked, any shell that remains closed should be discarded.

Mussels Mariniere

This dish can be adapted, replacing mussels with anything available. The sauce tastes like concentrated sea-side, and whereas we use wine in this recipe, you could go mad and use brandy.

Ingredients

• An onion, large and finely chopped
• 30g ( an ounce or a big knob) butter
• Garlic, 2 to 3 cloves, finely crushed
• 15g (3/4 oz) flour
• Half a bottle of white wine
• 300 ml (3/4/ pint) double cream
• 800 g (2lbs) mussels
• Chopped parsley

First melt the butter in a steep sided pan and sweat off the onions and garlic until they are translucent, after which you sprinkle the flour into the butter mix to thicken. Stir well to avoid lumps, and continue to cook for another three minutes.

Slowly add the wine, stirring all the time. Continue to stir until the sauce is beginning to thicken.

Add the mussels to the sauce, and shake the pan well to settle the contents. Immediately cover with a lid and turn up the heat; the wine is now steaming the mussels, and this should take between 12 and 15 minutes to complete. Check the dish and stir every few minutes, replacing the lid each time.

When all the shells are open, turn down the heat and slowly add the cream, stirring and allowing the sauce to thicken. Finally season and add a generous amount of parsley.

Serve with freshly baked bread.