BBC continues its work on chronicling the modern fishing industry in the UK. Across 300,000 square miles of ocean multiple deep-sea fishing trips were filmed around the clock across one brutal week at sea. From the North Sea to the English Channel - all hunting the catch.
Hunting the Catch tells the story of our fishermen on a scale not seen before: a national scale. With access across the British deep-sea fishing fleet from Shetland to Cornwall – from £300 million pelagic mackerel boats and state-of-the-art squid hunters to super-crabbers and beam trawlers – satellite data simultaneously tracks the voyages of each boat on their grounds around Britain. From the North Sea to North Atlantic, the Irish Sea to the English Channel, these are some of richest fishing grounds in the world and competition for the catch is intense.
But each skipper and crew face different challenges. Each has a different financial target
they're back, each hunting different prey, each on different grounds. In their way are fierce
storms; mechanical breakdown; crew exhaustion; seasickness; rival boats; injury; fluctuating
market prices. This is high drama on the high seas around Britain.
In this episode, it’s the last trip before Christmas and with demand surging, fish prices are
rising.
Off the south coast of Cornwall, Ocean Pride is heading out in pursuit of pollack. It’s
destination: old sunken shipwrecks in the English Channel. Best mates Ben, Joe and Zyam
are targeting £30,000 worth of pollack. If they can catch quickly and land before any of their
rivals they’ll have a monopoly on the market – and bank themselves a big pay day. But
wreck-netting requires pin-point accuracy to hit target. As the nets miss and seals eat the
valuable catch, skipper Ben gambles. Steaming 60 miles West he shoots nets around one of
the biggest wrecks in the channel – a 300ft long WW2 tanker – and what could be a haven
for thousands of pollock.
380 miles away on the Yorkshire coast, crabber Tydus is preparing to head out. With shellfish prices rising for Christmas the crew have hopes of a big pay day. Stig’s aim is six tons in the tank, a catch that this week could fetch well over £30,000. Once expenses are covered, each of the four young deckhands have the potential to earn themselves up to three grand for a week’s work. On the trip, there’s a greenhorn onboard. 21 year old Glyn has little experience at sea and he’s stepping into the toughest job in fishing; he’ll be expected to haul and empty one crab pot a minute.
Off the south coast of Devon in the English Channel Margaret of Ladram, one of Brixham’s
most successful beam trawlers is heading for an area of ground known as the ‘pot boxes’,
opening to trawling for the first time in months. Skipper Adam Cowan-Dickie is hoping they
contain one of the most lucrative species in British waters: dover sole. With the restaurant
trade in full swing for Christmas, Adam could earn £80,000 for the trip – if he can find the
fish. Adam hits good fishing, but as other boats start to see his movements how long can he keep
these grounds to himself?
As the Covid-19 omicron variant sweeps around the country, the restaurant industry is threatened with closure, creating shockwaves across the fishing fleet at the most lucrative time of year. Skippers are forced to react to real-time price changes.