Irish supermarket chain SuperValu has said that in anticipation of Good Friday, their markets are expecting double their sales of fish this week to around €1 million.

TheJournal.ie reports that SuperValu has Good Friday to thank for the week’s spike in sales as Catholics are traditionally supposed to abstain from eating meat on the Friday prior to Easter; however, they can eat fish.

In the 2011 Irish Census, 84 per cent of people declared themselves to be Catholic, though the actual number who are practicing Catholics who observe the rites and traditions of the religion tends to be lower.

In addition to abstaining from meat on Good Friday, and all Fridays during Lent, Catholics are supposed to abstain from alcohol and limit themselves to one full meal and two smaller ones on Good Friday.

SuperValu says salmon remains its biggest selling fish, though sales of hake and rainbow trout are also up significantly in the last few years.