Buying fish

G

Gerry

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www.gerryantics.blogspot.com
We live aboard, but this winter are tied to a dock, therefore little fishing going on from the boat. I miss fresh fish but find the markets and supermarkets very pricey and would far rather buy directly from the fishing boats that frequent our part of the world.

Sadly that can be rather difficult at times what with private docks, distances from fish docks etc so I was intrigued by this novel idea from a fishing boat in Mousehole, Cornwall http://www.mouseholefish.com/latest-news.html


Set me to wondering whether anyone knows of similar ventures around Britain, I really like the idea of cutting out the middleman and patronizing the guy who really does all the work, the fisherman.
 
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There are a number of such schemes - one was shown on BBC in a recent series of programmes on fishing in Cornwall. It was based on a scheme that is popular in the USA in New England. Where I live in Dorset local fishermen often have a go at selling direct - I have bought bass from a fisherman in a filling station car park in Bere Regis and shellfish from a Portland potter in the farmers market in Wimborne.

However these schemes are always difficult to sustain without regular customers who are prepared to take pot luck on what is available. Equally fishermen are much happier selling to wholesalers or commercial customers such as restaurants than standing out in a market hoping to sell their catch.

Fortunately our local wholesaler has a retail outlet so we have good access to fresh fish at prices lower than supermarket.
 
Unless it has changed in the last couple of years unless the individual fisherman has a DEFRA (or whatever they are called this week) sellers licence they aren't legally allowed to sell direct to the public...

W.
 
Good morning Gerry,
thank-you for mentioning us and we are so pleased that you like our idea. Basically we started selling our catch direct to the public because the prices we were getting on the fish market were ridiculously low compared to what the fish merchants were selling the same fish for.

Take Herring as an example. This winter we have been getting between 5p and 30p a kilo for the fish whilst the same merchant who bought it advertises on his website at £7 a kilo!

If we look at the other end of the scale towards the premium priced fish and look at Monkfish......we receive between £4 and £7 per kilo whilst again the same merchant advertises at £28 a kilo. The price differential is the same across every species of fish and it was glaringly obvious that we had to do something or give up fishing.

If you'd like any of our fish then please give us a ring and we can arrange overnight delivery for you, our number is on our website www.mouseholefish.com

As regards legalities we are fully registered and have a sellers licence. Strangely enough when we were researching about everything that we needed we were asked by the powers that be to obtain a buyers licence too which indeed we did.
 
Where I sail, a fishing boat used to sell directly to locals from the boat and people would queue up as he docked.
The Environmental Health man closed him down because he didn't have hot hand wash, stainless steel worktop, food hygiene certificates, calibrated scales etc. etc.
Apparently it is much more hygienic to truck the fish up to London, have it lay about for a time, sold to a wholesaler then trucked back again.
 
It is nice if you can get to buy direct from the boats...

nit inly does the fish taste better... but it helps thaw the ice between commercial fisherman and pleasure boaters....
 
Great feedback, particularly from Mousehole fish(good luck guys).

What I am interested in is how many other similar ventures to Mouseholes' are up and running around the UK? Does anyone know of any others?

Yes I too can buy from the occasional fishing boat, if I happen to be on the right dock when he comes in but that can be a bit hit or miss. What I like about the Mousehole venture is the communication from the boat to the customer, they text you to say what they caught that day and you say what you want-brilliant!

Of course I also rather like the fact that I get my fish at a great price and the fisherman gets a fair deal for his work.

So anyone know any other similar ventures? Please do let me know.
 
DanTribe said:
Where I sail, a fishing boat used to sell directly to locals from the boat and people would queue up as he docked.
The Environmental Health man closed him down because he didn't have hot hand wash, stainless steel worktop, food hygiene certificates, calibrated scales etc. etc.
Apparently it is much more hygienic to truck the fish up to London, have it lay about for a time, sold to a wholesaler then trucked back again.
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It's not a new thing. Back in the 60s, my Dad was based at Dunbar, which was then a flourishing fishing port. Most of the fish was sold to dealers who sent it off to the big fish-markets in London and Grimsby. But there was an elderly chap (retired fisherman, I think), who literally operated out of a hole in the wall, and who sold under-sized fish from the catch - mainly by-catch species (soles, plaice and so on), as the main catch was prawns. It was great! Really fresh fish, well prepared - and it probably wouldn't have gone to market anyway. But sadly, after a few years, he was closed down by the local Trading Standards people. The local fish-monger complained that he COULDN'T buy fish from the boats; he had to buy from wholesalers in Grimsby or London!

Of course, if you caught the fihermen themselves at the right time, they'd be quite happy to give you a couple of fish from the catch. But it wasn't cleaned or anything, and if you don't catch your own fish, that's a bit daunting!

Happy days! We were moored next to the Lifeboat, and of course we usually woke if there was a shout while we were there. The maroons going off from the castle made sure of that! The Lifeboat crew were all fishermen, and my enduring memory is the smell of beer that lingered after they'd set out :D
 
Gerry said:
Great feedback, particularly from Mousehole fish(good luck guys).

What I am interested in is how many other similar ventures to Mouseholes' are up and running around the UK? Does anyone know of any others?

Yes I too can buy from the occasional fishing boat, if I happen to be on the right dock when he comes in but that can be a bit hit or miss. What I like about the Mousehole venture is the communication from the boat to the customer, they text you to say what they caught that day and you say what you want-brilliant!

Of course I also rather like the fact that I get my fish at a great price and the fisherman gets a fair deal for his work.

So anyone know any other similar ventures? Please do let me know.
Click to expand...

Yes there's a couple of mates of mine who do just that. One has a van which spends most of its time in Topsham, Derek Thorman, sells what he catches from his small Orkney, about 17', and there's Dave Kerley who runs the Fish Shed at Darts Farm just outside Topsham who also sells what he catches. He also buys direct from the Exmouth trawler fleet.
 
longjohnsilver said:
Yes there's a couple of mates of mine who do just that. One has a van which spends most of its time in Topsham, Derek Thorman, sells what he catches from his small Orkney, about 17', and there's Dave Kerley who runs the Fish Shed at Darts Farm just outside Topsham who also sells what he catches. He also buys direct from the Exmouth trawler fleet.
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Interesting, thanks. Do they have a website?

ooh found the website for the Fish Shed, do you have any details for the other guy?
 
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I think this an excellent scheme, by using texts to understand demand / offer supply, the target species can be identified to maximise revenues whilst minimising waste / fish that get put into a long distribution chain and may not come out of the far end.

If I lived nearer I would be down there!
 
Gerry said:
Interesting, thanks. Do they have a website?

ooh found the website for the Fish Shed, do you have any details for the other guy?
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I doubt Derek would even know how to turn on a computer let alone have a website! You will find him by Matthews Hall in Topsham between about 11-00 to 13-00 on Tuesday, Thurs, Fri and Saturday. He does pitch up in other places but I don't have those details. If you want his phone number let me know and I will PM it to you.
 
marklucas said:
I think this an excellent scheme, by using texts to understand demand / offer supply, the target species can be identified to maximise revenues whilst minimising waste / fish that get put into a long distribution chain and may not come out of the far end.

If I lived nearer I would be down there!
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+1, there should be more of this! :)

Littlehampton Harbour still has the fish van, now a permanent retail outlet. IIRC correctly when I was a teenager it was always freshly landed from a boat, not sure if that's still the case.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
It's not a new thing. Back in the 60s, my Dad was based at Dunbar, which was then a flourishing fishing port. Most of the fish was sold to dealers who sent it off to the big fish-markets in London and Grimsby. But there was an elderly chap (retired fisherman, I think), who literally operated out of a hole in the wall, and who sold under-sized fish from the catch - mainly by-catch species (soles, plaice and so on), as the main catch was prawns. It was great! Really fresh fish, well prepared - and it probably wouldn't have gone to market anyway. But sadly, after a few years, he was closed down by the local Trading Standards people. The local fish-monger complained that he COULDN'T buy fish from the boats; he had to buy from wholesalers in Grimsby or London!

Of course, if you caught the fihermen themselves at the right time, they'd be quite happy to give you a couple of fish from the catch. But it wasn't cleaned or anything, and if you don't catch your own fish, that's a bit daunting!

Happy days! We were moored next to the Lifeboat, and of course we usually woke if there was a shout while we were there. The maroons going off from the castle made sure of that! The Lifeboat crew were all fishermen, and my enduring memory is the smell of beer that lingered after they'd set out :D
Click to expand...

I do not believe your local fishmonger had to buy from Grimsby and London. There is an excellent fishmonger in Fisherrow who buys from the landing markets like Eyemouth and Anstruther, and Newhaven when it was open and there are plenty of fish vans around the Forth who do the same.
 
maxi77 said:
I do not believe your local fishmonger had to buy from Grimsby and London. There is an excellent fishmonger in Fisherrow who buys from the landing markets like Eyemouth and Anstruther, and Newhaven when it was open and there are plenty of fish vans around the Forth who do the same.
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I'm sorry if you disbelieve me, but that is what HE said, when we enquired whether his fish was local. We were equally incredulous, as it certainly seemed completely insane in a fishing port! He stated categorically that at that time (late 60s), a fish retailer could NOT source fish except from an accredited fish market, and at that time, the only ones supplying the retail trade were Grimsby and Billingsgate. I remember it precisely BECAUSE it was a very stupid regulation. The Trading Standards action in closing down the small trader I mentioned was seen locally as being connected with this, though I doubt if he met the most stringent hygene regulations.

Things may have changed since then, and from your account it seems they have, but I am reporting the position as it was. Sadly, the fishing industry in Dunbar has declined substantially since those days, so I doubt enough fish is landed these days to make it possible (the harbour, I am told, has become badly silted).

I note that in East Anglia, all the travelling fish merchants tend to advertise fish from Grimsby, except for a small amount of crab etc. from Cromer. And there are certainly fishing communities more local than Grimsby!
 
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