The Truffler: Seafood, food & drink websites

As we report this week, there's an abundance of wonderful seafood to be bought around the coast. But a WWF report entitled Fish of the day: can consumers help save UK fisheries?, as well as drawing attention to the depletion of fish stocks, investigates changing fish eating habits, and suggests ways to help the protected stocks by varying the fish we buy at a time when consumption of fish is growing. With so many different fish species caught in UK waters we could all be more adventurous with our fish. Try pollock and saithe, don't buy baby fish, and avoid vulnerable species such as orange roughy. Look for locally caught fish – apart from anything else it will be fresher. Rediscover herring. The WWF's Oceans Recovery Campaign is working with fishermen to protect fish stocks. At the same time the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) aims to endorse responsible fishing. It is awarding sustainable fisheries an MSC logo. Thames herrings, wild Alaskan salmon, Western Australian rock lobster and South West mackerel from Cornwall are among those accredited by the MSC. Look for the logo in supermarkets and even on menus in the fish! restaurant chain.

Evidence of just how many websites about food and drink there are comes in The Good Web Guide to Food (£7.99) written by esteemed contributor to these pages, Jenni Muir. It has been updated for publication this month, and is as up-to-the-minute a guide you'll find to a world where some sites last no longer than the asparagus season. To save hours of wasted browsing she's selected sites that seem likely to last the course, and rates the main ones in various categories. These include restaurant guides, general foodie sites such as www. foodndrink.co.uk, celebrities' self-regarding spots – Jamie Oliver's gets three stars to Raymond Blanc's five, nigella.com's dismissed as a swiz – special diets, shopping on-line – with top marks going to esperya.com for Italian goodies and cucina.co.uk for kitchen equipment, and a wealth of specialist food suppliers. But it's batty sites such as Our Lady of Toast, Mother of Toasters that make the book worth browsing as well as using.