The food frontline: Richard Adams, fishmonger

The South West food and drink industry has been severely hit by lockdown as restaurants have closed and producers have lost their customers. Yet some businesses are experiencing an unprecedented boom, while others are pivoting in new and creative directions.

We spoke to foodies on the frontline about what’s been going down Richard Adams works in his family business Trelawney Fish & Deli in Newlyn, Cornwall, alongside his brother Anthony and shop manager Andy Howes. In addition to their fish shop in the town, they also provide an overnight fresh fish mail order service for consumers and supply wholesalers that stock restaurants and small fishmongers across the UK.

How has lockdown affected your business? 

We’ve seen a massive increase in demand for our overnight delivery service. I think it’s because people can’t go out to restaurants and are looking to treat themselves – plus they’re doing more cooking at home.

On the other side, there’s been a huge decrease in wholesale orders, so the direct to- consumer trade is helping us keep people employed. The wholesale business is starting to stabilise though; we’re now selling more fish to wholesalers that supply small fishmongers. People are getting used to the new normal and are using their local fishmonger more. 

Shop manager Andy Howes at your service.

How have you adapted? Our shop is still open but we can only have one customer in at a time. The biggest change is that the mail order element was just an add-on to the business, but we’ve now got a member of staff working on just that – and they’re flat out. We’ve even got a backlog of orders. Other businesses offer a set-price box and customers get what they’re given but we offer a bespoke service where people order over the phone and we advise on what’s best that day, so it’s time consuming.

Has the local community been supportive? Definitely – the shop counter is still busy. The only thing we’re seeing a dip in is tourist trade.

What will you do after lockdown? We’ll aim to maintain the level of overnight deliveries we’re doing. A lot of places in the country don’t have a fishmonger and many people didn’t know they could order fish by mail so I hope that after they’ve seen how good the quality, service and the price is, they’ll carry on ordering this way.

People may just return to their usual habits, but if we could do even 50 per cent of what we’re doing now, it would be good. It’s better for people to support fishmongers than supermarkets as fishmongers have more interest in the fishing industry – instead of just the bottom line.

Full story courtesy of the Food Magazine.

BATmap - A pioneering approach for reducing bycatch and discards

A co-designed, ‘bottom up’ approach The involvement of Scottish skippers in BATmap is key, and this innovative approach would not work without their buy-in or expertise. They have been involved in the design of BATmap from the outset.

The inclusion of spurdog illustrates the benefits and flexibility of this co-design process. They are a protected species that cause by-catch issues in some west of Scotland fisheries at certain times of the year. Skippers recognised that BATmap could let them share information about local abundances of spurdog and improve spatial avoidance of the species.

Any Scottish skipper fishing for whitefish on the west of Scotland can use BATmap providing they agree to contribute data. This bottom-up approach will put data into the hands of skippers to help them make more informed decisions at sea.

An industry-led, cooperative solution BATmap’s cooperative approach reflects the fishing industry’s shared commitment to avoiding by-catch. The project is a first for the UK and Europe, and is a great example of innovative collaboration between industry and science.

BATmap is working with fisheries experts worldwide to develop a system that works for Scottish fisheries.

About the App BATmap is a web-based app that can be used on phones (iOS and Android), tablets and desktops. Skippers use the app to log the start and end time of a haul, and the total catch (kg) of cod, whiting and spurdog.

Catches and alerts are displayed on a map as a series of ‘hexbins’. These hexbins are graded in colour to help visualise areas of low by-catch and areas of high by-catch.

The map has a number of functions that allows skippers to view catch and alert information in a range of different ways. They can control the following elements:

• Selection of individual species (cod, whiting, spurdog) 
• Zoom function to view catches at different resolutions The date range over which the catch can be aggregated and viewed (1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc) 
• Vessel tracks allow the user to overlay their tow tracks through the catch hexbins  

Skippers fishing on the west coast of Scotland are piloting an innovative by-catch avoidance tool, BATmap, to reduce catches of unwanted species and to improve catch efficiency. BATmap is a groundbreaking collaboration between Scottish skippers, producer organisations and scientists to develop and deploy state-of-the-art technology to avoid unwanted catches of cod, whiting and spurdog.

Skippers on the west coast of Scotland are trialling a bespoke software system to record hauls of unwanted species in ‘real-time’. If catches are higher than an agreed threshold, an automatic alert is triggered informing other participating vessels so they can avoid these areas.

What's the problem?

A mixed fishery exists where different species mingle on the fishing grounds, making it difficult to target one species without catching others. In the west of Scotland mixed fishery a single haul typically contains a mix of species including cod, haddock and whiting.

A decline in abundance of cod and whiting has led to zero-catch scientific advice for these species from ICES. To continue fishing healthy stocks in the area, such as haddock and monkfish, by-catch measures for cod and whiting have been introduced by the EU.

The EU Common Fisheries Policy aims to eliminate discarding of fish at sea through a policy known as the Landing Obligation, where all quota-managed fish caught must be brought to shore. The Landing Obligation can result in a phenomenon known as ‘choking’ whereby vessels having to stop fishing when the most limiting quota is caught, thus ‘choking’ or closing the fishery prematurely. In the west of Scotland fishery, cod and whiting currently act as ‘choke’ species.

The Landing Obligation incentivises skippers to avoid encountering ‘choke’ species in the first place through better spatial selectivity.

Using real-time reporting to avoid unwanted catches Real-time reporting is the rapid, semi-automated collation, processing and dissemination of catch data to improve decision-making at sea. Developed by the fishing industry in Alaska in the mid-1990s, it has been successfully used to meet strict Federal limits on salmon by-catch for over two decades.

In Alaska, a ‘cooperative’ of fishing vessels share information with each other via automated software. Skippers report their catches of chum and chinook salmon shortly after each haul comes onboard. If the catch is above an agreed threshold an alert is triggered and automatically sent to all participating vessels.

This real-time information enables skippers to avoid fishing in areas where salmon by-catch is high thereby complying with Federal legislation. It is also used by the cooperatives to designate temporary area closures (known as “rolling hotspots”) where high catch rates of salmon are recorded.

What is BATmap? 

BATmap, or By-catch Avoidance Tool using mapping, is an app for Scottish skippers to share real-time information with each other about the location of hotspots of fish species that are choke species (e.g. cod, whiting) or of conservation interest (spurdog).

Log. BATmap collects data from participating vessels. Position data are automatically reported via satellite network, and catch data are collected from the mobile app.

Skippers report the start and end time of a haul, the location, and the total catch of cod, whiting and spurdog.

Map. If the catch of a given species exceeds a set threshold, an alert is sent to all participating vessels.

The alerts are displayed on a map showing the time and location of the catch and the amount of bycatch.

Decide. These real-time data allow skippers to make informed decisions about where to fish and provide information that can improve spatial avoidance of by-catch.

Frequently Asked Questions about BATmap 

• How secure is the data and who is it shared with? 
• What information is being shared? 
• How is a vessel’s position recorded? 
• How do I download the app and start using it? 

Read our FAQ for the answers to these and other questions. 

BATapp: user guide and instructions 

• How do I enter the details of a new catch? 
• What information can I find out about each catch? 

Read the BATmap user guide and instructions.

Our partners BATmap brings together the Scottish fishing industry and a Scottish university in a unique collaboration. The project is funded and led by the Scottish Fishermen’s Organisation (SFO), the University of Aberdeen, and Fisheries Innovation Scotland (FIS), with additional support from the Scottish White Fish Producers Association and Seafish. Chordata LLC, an IT company based in Juno, Alaska, developed the software. Aberdeen Fish Producer’s Organisation, North East of Scotland Fishermen’s Organisation and Orkney Fish Producer’s Organisation are project partners and funders, with contributions from the Scottish Association of Fish Producer Organisations.

Newlyn at work.

Traditional signwriter Jess Walters in a break with tradition, no more 'three stripes' on the bow of the Spirited Lady III as she nears the end of her massive engineroom refit - 

two new Volvo Pentas and exhausts and a host of other improvements...

inshore boat My Lass looking good in the afternoon sunshine...

not looking so good is the trawl of the Harvest Reaper the two Toms have been hard at it since first thing this morning and the end is still not in sight - memo to skipper, make sure you have enough shooters on board ;-)...

St Georges is not in a good place...

Stelissa heads in through the gaps with another trip of MSC Certified hake for #FishyFriday's market.

Does the Citizen Convention ask for the end of fishing?

There was certainly no fisherman in the panel of citizens drawn. Would they have endorsed proposals which, implicitly, point towards the end of the fishery?

Evidence

The objective is "Food: encourage the development of sustainable low-emission fishing", a series of obvious proposals: ending overfishing, improving knowledge, achieving RMD, whale protection, decarbonation. However, certain analyzes and recommendations are very ambiguous.

Fishing in accusation

Fishing is considered one of the main sources of ecosystem disturbances sailors. Curiously, other major sources of disturbance have completely passed under silence. We know that disruptions in land-sea relations weaken productive capacities marine environments and that land-based pollution has a considerable impact on the quality waters and the sustainability of activities such as shore fishing, coastal fishing or shellfish farming. (cf https://peche-dev.org/spip.php?article308 Why sardines love chestnuts.) By elsewhere the development of sand and aggregate extraction, works for wind turbines increasingly disrupting the seabed, but this is not discussed. Towards an end to fishing?

It is first of all a question of limiting it, but the Convention proposes "to avoid fishing for fish in their natural environment. "This is clarified and confirmed:" We wish to modify our access routes fisheries resources, in particular by developing sustainable aquaculture farms respectful of the environment and health ". An integrated aquaculture model is discussed. Implicitly, it is therefore a question of moving towards an end to fishing for the benefit of integrated aquaculture in fresh and marine waters. Such initiatives are to be supported and encouraged. They are still largely experimental and cannot claim to replace fishing. This is the old fantasy the replacement of fishing by aquaculture.

Decarbonize yes, but how?

Pending this miracle or this mirage, the Convention recommends supporting fishermen to renewing ships, modernizing them and reducing consumption. Fishermen can only rejoice and they are well aware of this need, but "move from thermal boats to boats powered by green energies "remains an unrealistic prospect in the near future to come up. Many tests have been carried out but have not yet proven themselves. It's even more complicated at sea than on land. It should not be forgotten that fishermen will undoubtedly be obliged to give up very productive fishing areas for the development of wind farms, right already a considerable contribution from them in the fight against climate change?

Fishing has little impact overall

We can also remember that fishing provides quality protein at a cost much lower environmental than livestock. We can of course reduce it further, but can we place fishing boats and motorized pleasure boats on the same plane? Shouldn't not in priority to halt the development of a pleasure craft with a motorization overpowered, polluting and noisy? Let's not forget that these noises are a big factor in disruption for fish as the Covid crisis has shown. Once again, tends to impose a very negative vision of fishing carried by people without link with maritime culture and the realities of fishing. The fishermen are not a problem, but part of the solution, as demonstrated by their commitment to save and manage cash emblematic like the European red lobster, the lobster, the scallop, etc.

Mike Warner - Big on fish!

Mike Gardner who runs the Bg Feed HQ, a podcaster passionate about food and the outdoor experience talks to Mike Warner, the driving force behind Passion for Seafood - a website dedicated to the best in British fish and fishing. 

Despite being based in Felixstowe, Suffolk long-time Newlyn fan Mike Warner,  has recently been added to the board of Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners bringing his wealth of seafood trade knowledge and seafood writing to the proceedings.

This podcast discussion explores a wide range of fish and fishing related subjects - such is the extent to which seafood is interrelated to so many areas of our lives.

Big Feed Up HQ · Great British Seafood Paradox | Regional Sustainability | UK Fishing | With Mike Warner

Mike is a freelance writer and industry expert on commercial fishing. He is a self-confessed seafoodaholic, with a deep-seated passion for the life of the shallow seas around our coast. 

We dig into:

• Connecting the fisherman to the consumer by storytelling
• Explaining the Great British Seafood Paradox 
• Reporting from the coalface of the industry
• Full market tour and boarding a vessel with professional chefs 
• Regional sustainability
• Net to plate
• Health benefits of oily fish and shellfish
• Mikes brilliant Fishmongers
• The Cream, online food publication

Links and Resources: 

Website: www.apassionforseafood.com/ 

Mike on Instagram: www.instagram.com/apassionforseafood/ 

The Cream: www.wearethecream.co.uk/mike-warner 

The Cream on Instagram: www.instagram.com/wearethecream/ 

Mike's Fishmongers and Fisherys: 

www.ellisandjones.co.uk

www.thechelseafishmonger.co.uk

www.jonathannorrisfishmonger.net

www.theseathesea.net/prawnonthelawn.com

www.visitfelixstowe.org.uk 

In Sea: 

 

www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/search

Plein air weekend walk

Work still in progress aboard the Spirited Lady...

while it's looking like job well done for Richard and crew aboard the Still Waters...

  not so the St Georges where there is still plenty to do to bring her up to MCA specs...

after fishing south of the Scillys the big Belgian beam trawler Flamingo lands another consignment of quality flatfish to be driven back to be sold on the fish market at Zeebrugge...

inshore fishing off the back of the quay in Newlyn overlooked by Castle An Dinas quarry away in the distance...

Sunday afternoon and the first major outing since lockdown, lunch at the Logan's Rock Inn followed by at walk to the rock itself...

accompanied by the SAR helicopter doing a recce of the coastline...

maybe checking on how locals and visitors alike where maintaining social distancing on Porthcurno beach...

and the weather being what it was a perfect day for visiting plein air painters to capture...

the stunning view...

and sparkling crystal-clear waters...

being enjoyed...

with signs of sardine rashes all round the bay...

and a certain boat, Butts heading between the rocks off the point of Logan's Rock...

with Cap'n Cod enjoying a pleasant steam home after a long day fishing for bass over the Runnelstone Reef.

Nippon Maru No1's maiden voyage of nearly a year!

As UK Seafarer's Week draws to a close - spare a thought for these guys.

Last year December the Japanese longliner Kinsai Maru No1 was picked up on AIS fishing at Rockall. This was not the first time Japanese boats have been spotted at the Rock but this boat's story was slightly different.

The Kinsai Nippon Maru No1 had been completed in Japan and launched in August last year and was on her maiden voyage...from Japan. She left her home port around the 17th of September to begin a three month steam across two oceans, first the Pacific and then the Atlantic - to fish at Rockall! She is thought to target tuna which are then blast frozen on board. Individual bluefin tuns have made up to £2.3 million pounds on Tokyo's famous fish market - but they are landed fresh.

Last week an AIS alert picked up the boat again as she stopped for the first time - back in Japan! The boat has been at sea for over ten months - she has never touched the shore in all that time. Looking at the AIS track it would seem that she spent the first part of her long trip hunting fish down the west coast of the island of Ireland and then headed back across the Atlantic, thorough the Panama Canal and on to fishing grounds in the Pacific before heading home.