Ramsay's Shark Bait will see chef investigating environmental impact of fishing as well as swimming with a bull shark

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

He gave us the F Word – lots of them – and had a bellyful of Kitchen Nightmares. Now Channel 4 has a new wheeze for resident chef Gordon Ramsay – throwing him to the sharks.

Ramsay's latest Channel 4 series, Ramsay's Best Restaurant, did not perform as well as his previous efforts so Ramsay's Shark Bait could be just the ratings tonic he requires.

The chef goes swimming with a bull shark – among the most likely sharks to attack humans – in what Channel 4 says is his "scariest challenge to date".

It is part of the broadcaster's latest season of food programmes in what has become an annual January event featuring Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Heston Blumenthal and new recruit, chef and eco-friendly restaurateur Arthur Potts Dawson.

The January series of programmes is called The Big Fish Fight and is described by Channel 4 as a "timely call to arms for viewers and shoppers to be more aware about the world's diminishing fish stocks and the potential impact on all of our lives". "Each chef, in his own inimitable way, tackles the high seas to investigate the mounting crisis."

Ramsay, whose current four-year contract with Channel 4 runs out in the middle of next year, swims with a bull shark as he investigates the controversial appeal – and impact – of shark fin soup, with about 100m sharks killed each year.

Fearnley-Whittingstall, who previously campaigned for better quality, healthier chickens, will look to uncover the reality of overfishing.

Oliver will cook some dishes using sustainable fish while Blumenthal will come up with a fish-based feast using "alternative and delicious delights from the deep".

Potts Dawson, meanwhile, will embark on a "voyage of discovery to experience the perilous life of a trawlerman". The season will also include a Dispatches investigation.

Channel 4's first food season uniting Ramsay, Oliver and Fearnley-Whittingstall was the "Big Food Fight" which aired in early 2008.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.

• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".