Fresh fish is an excellent choice as a quick dinner. It only takes a few minutes to sear a fish fillet to form the centrepiece of a nutritious meal.

Determining the level of freshness is a major consideration when buying fish. Ask the vendor what their freshest fish is and make your decision based on this information. Many fish are caught offshore then filleted and frozen straight away on the ship.

The local fishery around Auckland has its suppliers of freshly caught fish. This varies week by week and season by season, so you need to ask around to find out what is fresh and local.

We should all make an effort to buy fish that are truly sustainable from New Zealand waters. Forest and Bird have a downloadable pocket guide that will help you identify sustainable fish species to buy.

How to tell if fish is fresh

1. Fresh fish should smell fresh and have no offensive odour.
2. Four every hour at room temperature it is estimated that fish loses one day's shelf life.
3. Fish fillets or steaks should have bright, glossy or translucent flesh and should not have dull, yellow or opaque flesh
4. Whole fish should have bright clear eyes, glossy unbroken skin and should not have cloudy or "milky" sunken eyes, dull or slimy skin or slimy brown gills

To keep fish fresh once you have purchased it, chill it to as close to 0°C as possible using ice packs or bags of crushed ice.

Good reads

Peter Gordon: Sustainable fish choices

Sustainable fish guide