Discover Seafood will join with creatives across the country for the UK Seafood Relay to shine a light on the people and coastal communities embedded within the UK fishing industry. In an exciting next step for the innovative web portal Discover Seafood, the launch of the UK Seafood Relay will advance its ongoing work in celebrating UK commercial fishing and the special coastal community behind it. By collaborating with volunteers from around the country, the Relay will gather stories, photos and videos from key fishing towns to share with the British public on a purpose-built, interactive map. The project aims to foster a greater understanding of local seafood at a point in time when support and recognition of the UK fishing industry is critical.
Coincided with the gradual ease of lockdown restrictions, the Seafood Relay will take users on a vibrant, UK-wide journey to discover everything that local seafood has to offer. Forming a unique collective of local journalists, bloggers, photographers and filmmakers, both hobbyist and professional, the relay ‘adventurers’ will travel along the UK’s dynamic coastline to gather stories from fishmongers and fishermen, and share them with the online Discover Seafood community.
Gavin O’Donnell, Fisheries Programme Officer at the Fishmongers’ Company said,
“The UK Seafood Relay will support Discover Seafood in its mission to educate the public about seafood, seasonality and sustainability, shining a light on the ‘faces of fishing’ that deserve to be put on the seafood map but as of yet remain ‘undiscovered.’ By telling the story of British fish through the people and communities behind it, we want to encourage the public to support the UK’s rich fishing culture and turn to local, sustainably-caught, British seafood in the wake of Brexit.”
As well as providing the public with a portal into the UK’s coastal communities, the Relay will provide young creatives with an opportunity to advance their journalistic skills and share their work on a popular platform. The project hopes to inspire a new generation of coastal enthusiasts to discover the seafood businesses on their doorsteps, through carrying out interviews, writing blogs, and taking photographs.
Katie Stilwell, one of the relay’s first adventurers, said:
“Taking part in the Relay has helped me to reconnect with the coastal community in my hometown. It’s a great privilege to be able to share the stories of the people making a living through fishing sustainably and to engage a new audience through storytelling and creativity. I’ve met so many interesting characters and have learnt so much about the people who land the catch on my plate!”
Gavin O’Donnell continues:
“The collected images and writings will be a documentation of how we live now, the many ways in which ‘a fishing life’ has changed over the generations, and a celebration of the varied, seasonal fare that is landed every day on our shores.”
You can follow updates of the UK Seafood Relay through Discover Seafood’s social media channels and register to become an adventurer on their website.