Lorient. At Top Atlantique, fish keep fishing!

Translated by Google: How. French fish processor in Orient has responded to OVID19.

The closure of restaurants and canteens has deprived the fishmonger of half of its turnover in Lorient (Morbihan). At the same time, it was also necessary to protect employees and ensure activity, even if slowed down.

At Top Atlantique, as with many fishmongers from Keroman to Lorient ( Morbihan) , the two months of confinement resulted in a severe reduction in activity. From the first days, with the closure of restaurants, school canteens and company restaurants. "We lost half of our turnover overnight," explains Ivy Guillou, the director.

"Everyone's security"

The company, which took over the workshops of ex-Marine Harvest last year , on rue Batelière, completely stopped production for two weeks, in March. 44 employees were placed on partial unemployment. " Not only had demand dropped ," says Ivy Guillou, " but the Breton deep-sea vessels were no longer fishing . »Impossible to correctly feed the thread lines with julienne, saithe, whiting, etc.

Activity resumed slowly in early April. And with it the implementation of barrier measures. Top Atlantique already meets drastic hygiene standards in the food industry. The wearing of masks, coats, gloves, charlottes has long been the rule. The coronavirus has forced us to go even further. "For everyone's safety, to reassure us all," recalls Ivy Guillou.

A new organization

Shifted shift times, taking temperature at reception, put on a mask before entering the locker room, hand sanitizer gel, no more than three people in the locker room at the same time, no more than five on break , crosses on the ground to signify the regulatory distance between people, etc. The new organization goes far in every detail.

One in two positions

“On the threading lines, work was limited to one out of two jobs. Where there are twelve threaders in normal times, there are only six, with two meters between each person , says Ivy Guillou. And each operator keeps the same workstation all day. "

Factory disinfected every day

The factory is cleaned and disinfected at the end of the day, every day. Door handles, switches, coffee machine are every two hours. “The staff representatives are associated with this work. We share experiences and adapt procedures. » Until the return to a normal, economic ... and gastronomic life.

Top Atlantique employs 70 people in Lorient (50 million turnover). It is the seafood subsidiary of the Finistère group Le Saint , which also operates in fruit and vegetables, poultry, meat, groceries (2,300 employees).

Fisheries APPG Goes Online to Brief MPs on #FishingSupport under COVID-19.

Last week, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries saw record attendance, as it hosted its first virtual event, “Support for the Fisheries Sector”, attracting over 70 participants from all over the UK. MPs and high-level officials from across the fisheries sector met via webinar to discuss the support measures put in place to help UK seafood during the coronavirus pandemic.

Notable representatives from Seafish, the MMO, Marine Scotland, DAERA and the Welsh Government all gave presentations, briefing attendees on the support measures available across the UK and for individual countries. Sheryll Murray MP, Chair of the APPG, gave opening remarks, before handing over to David Duguid MP to chair the session. 

“Our focus in recent weeks has been to collaborate with industry to help keep the fabric of the seafood supply chain intact during the coronavirus crisis, so that when this situation passes the seafood sector will be able to recover,” said Aoife Martin, Director of Operations at Seafish. She noted that Seafish’s pandemic-responsive work has included advising on direct sales, collaborating on changes to product labelling, issuing critical working certificates and transforming their industry training programme to meet needs arising from the current crisis. 

Tom McCormack, CEO of the Marine Management Organisation, spoke about the measures put in place across England. “To assist our industry stakeholders, we have put together a financial and welfare support guide for the fishing industry to signpost the support announced by the Government.” The MMO is administering two funds: the Fisheries Response Fund for fishing and aquaculture businesses, and the Direct Seafood Supply Scheme to promote locally caught seafood. “The MMO has expanded its grants team and extended its opening hours to evenings and Saturdays to help advise on these grants,” he continued. “We are in regular contact with industry representatives to keep them up to speed with the help available.” 

Allan Gibb, Head of Sea Fisheries at Marine Scotland, provided the Scottish perspective. “In Scotland, there are two hardship schemes covering over- and under-12m vessels, focusing mostly on the shellfish fleet, where the market impact has been the most severe. These funds allow businesses to meet their fixed costs and enable owners to keep their business afloat.” To access support, he advised members of the sector to get in touch with their affiliated association if they have one, their local Member of Scottish Parliament, or find further details on the Scottish Government website.

“In Wales, the most immediate form of financial assistance is the Welsh Fisheries Grant, which aims to support full-time vessel-owning fishers with some of their fixed costs” shared Mike Dowell, Deputy Director of the Welsh Government’s Marine and Fisheries Department. “There are also other various Welsh Government and UK Government support schemes that fishers may be eligible for.” As well as online resources, he added that industry bodies such as the Welsh Fishermen’s Association are also able to direct members to avenues of support.

Paddy Campbell, who heads up DAERA’s Sea Fisheries Policy and Grants division, spoke on behalf of Northern Ireland. “The sea fish catching sector in Northern Ireland will benefit from £1.5 million to assist with vessel fixed costs under the Sea Fish Industry (Coronavirus) (Fixed Costs) Scheme (NI) 2020. The industry can also take advantage of UK-wide schemes such as the Job Retention Scheme and the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.” For the DAERA scheme, he underscored that any eligible vessel owner who has not been contacted can get in touch at fishscheme@daera-ni.gov.uk.

When asked how the public could support UK fishing, all panelists were in agreement: buy local. “Take the time to buy locally caught seafood, either from your high-street fishmonger or via the range of direct delivery online platforms available,” said Aoife Martin. This might involve branching out into consuming less familiar species. “Developing a domestic market for species of fish and shellfish not traditionally eaten by the UK public would certainly help,” said Mike Dowell.

The event was recorded in its entirety and will soon be available on the APPG website. A detailed report will also be available in the coming weeks. The next APPG event, which will focus on innovative responses to the pandemic, is scheduled for 4 June at 3pm, and will take place via Zoom. You can email the Secretariat at secretariat@fisheriesappg.org to register. 

Contact: All Party Parliamentary Group on Fisheries Secretariat

secretariat@fisheriesappg.org

COVID19 - UK Fish and Chip shops are being encouraged to sell UK caught hake!

Dropping prices are putting the UK catching sector under pressure amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry figures have warned. Year-on-year prices have dropped by more than a third at auctions still operating across the UK, according to industry body the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations.

Exported species, such as monkfish and hake, are particularly affected, industry sources have suggested. British fishing boats export most of their catch to Europe and Asia, where markets have been most affected by lockdowns to control the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

The situation had led some fishermen to voluntarily tie up their vessels to avoid landing catches that could crash prices further, the NFFO added.

Leading figures in the British fishing industry have asked the fish and chip industry to give British hake a try on their menu. The NFFO cites hake as the ‘most sustainable UK fishery’.

15 Cornish hake boats are MSC Certified and land to both Newlyn and Brixham fish markets.

Larry Hartwell, ex skipper has said “Despite the logistics issues many small inshore boats are continuing to fish - many by selling fish directly to customers or wet fish shops etc.

Many fish and chip shops in Cornwall now have hake on their menus - which has helped move hake from an export only market to a growing UK outlet. One of my buyer now sells 80% of the hake he buys on Newlyn and Brixham into the UK - ten years ago he exported the 80% to Spain - so things are changing. Chefs like Nathan Outlaw and Tom Aikens regularly push hake when they appear on TV cooking shows like Great British menu, Masterchef or Saturday Kitchen.”

Matt's Fresh Newlyn Fish - delivered to your door!

Matt fishes with the boat, New Venture in and south of Mounts Bay, Cornwall. Since the lockdown began he has been supplying fresh fish locally to the lucky people who live in the Penwith area, far west of Cornwall.

Anyone interested in knowing how your fish supper gets to arrive on your plate tomorrow night? Here's how.

There is still time to make an order, message on the inbox your order, full address and a contact number for delivery tomorrow send a

Message on the inbox ...your order, full address and a contact number for delivery. ** special £15 mixed bags, fillets and whole and 3 Kilo Mixed flats bag £15

You can see where Matt is fishing with the New Venture using VesselTracker AIS tracking here: 

Seafish supporting the industry at every level.

Aoife Martin, Director of Operations talks through the work we've been doing to ensure sellers meet the required regulations when selling direct to the consumer.

COVID19 comes to Plymouth and talks to the fishing industry.

The Guardian covers COVID19 crisis and features the Call4Fish campaign website and gets a live interview with David Stevens aboard his brand new Crystal Sea fishing deep off Cornwall.

Six weeks into Britain's Covid-19 crisis, Anywhere but Westminster asks how a city keeps going when everything has ground to a halt. The team virtually visits Plymouth, population 250,000, to see how the services that are vital to a city and its inhabitants are scrabbling to stay afloat. The fishing industry is in meltdown, temporary housing is oversubscribed and nurses facilitate goodbyes over Zoom. Most of all, people are asking: what on earth happens after this?

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You've seen hake on the fish counter - here's a recipe from Steph Delourme, head chef at Rick Stein's Padstow restaurant.

Seared fillet of hake with pointed cabbage and pancetta,

served with creamy Doom Bar ale sauce.

MAKES QUANTITY:

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

4 x 160g Hake fillets

50g salted butter
3tsp salt
½tsp sugar
5 rasps grated nutmeg
2 hispi (hearted or sweetheart) cabbages
1 carrot, sliced into triangles
40g banana shallots, finely chopped
100g pancetta
10g flat leaf parsley, chopped
½ bottle of Doom Bar ale
700ml chicken stock
100g salted butter
30g double cream
1 lemon, juiced
10g whipped cream
Gremolata
100gr flat leaf parsley
Salt
Black pepper
30gr Garlic finely chopped
0.5 lemon juice
1 lemon zest
200gr Olive oil
20gr Pumpkin Seeds

METHOD:

CABBAGE:
• Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut in half, remove the solid stalk and thinly slice.
• Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add 2 tsp salt, ½tsp sugar, 5 rasps nutmeg, the sliced cabbage, carrot and shallot. Put a lid on the pan and cook for 5-10 min, stirring frequently to prevent the cabbage from catching.
•

SAUCE:

• Reduce half the Doom Bar until it almost catches on the bottom of the pan and deglaze with the remaining half, add chicken stock and reduce by 2/3. Add the butter, double cream and lemon.

SERVICE:

• Plancha the skinless hake fillet for 2 minutes on each side until golden.
• Warm the cabbage and stir in the chopped parsley.
• Warm the sauce and add the whipped cream.
• Cook the pancetta between 2 pastry trays in a 100 degree oven until crispy and golden.
• Place the cabbage on the plate, place the fillet on top and pour the sauce around. Garnish with the crispy pancetta.

Many thanks for Steph Delourme, head chef at Rick Stein's, Padstow for providing this recipe.