Big British Food Map Fishermen's Friend

Date Published:

06/05/2008

It's hard to come to Cornwall without thinking about fish. However at 5:30am the only thing I'm thinking about is the nice warm bed I'd left behind at the Old Coastguard Hotel. I'm heading for Newlyn fish market and a chat with Nathan de Rozarieux, project director of Seafood Cornwall, a co-operative of fishermen, merchants and sellers dedicated to maintaining good quality stock, who'd offered to show me around.

Nathan tells me that Newlyn is a small artisan dock, where a broad selection of fish is landed. "It's low volume high value, compared to other larger scale ports around the country." A look at what's being auctioned here confirms this, with monkfish, hake, ling, gurnard megrim and more on offer. "We have over 40 different species landed and sold here," says Nathan and tells me that around 50 per cent of what's sold is from non-precious, therefore non-quota, stocks.

He introduces me to Robert George, a retired skipper himself now in charge of Seafood Cornwall’s quality control. Robert is looking at how well the fish have been handled, gutted and stored, particularly the megrim. "It's much softer than other fish and damages very easily," explains Robert, "if they're OK, I know the rest of the catch is going to be good."

We retire to the Seaman's Mission for a cuppa and a bacon butty and Nathan talks me through some of the other things Seafood Cornwall do. Last year they organised a 'meet the customer' session with Marks & Spencer, taking a group of fishermen into one of M&S' stores to actually meet and talk to the people who buy their product.

They've also been working with The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund as well as scientists at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in encouraging a dialogue between the fishermen, the merchants and traders and other interested parties. The line mackerel they endorse for example is now certified by the MSC; it and other line caught fish are tagged with a number allowing the consumer to log on to linecaught.org.uk and find out who actually caught it.

So where can you buy all this lovely seafood? Newlyn is blessed with a number of fishmongers who sell to the public, one of which is Trelawney Fish Deli staffed on this cold wet morning by a cheery bloke called Kevin. On display is fish landed that morning, some from their own fleet of trawlers. Kevin lets me peer through a door at the back of the shop where more fish that have just been fork-lifted over are being prepared ready for sale. "We’ve been here since 1996," he says, and goes on to explain that what started as little more that a street-facing door in the front of the wholesale warehouse has grown and enlarged into a well stocked deli selling everything from Cornish sea salt to handmade pasta and sauces. "We also do mail order as well as the shop and the wholesale business," adds Kevin.

Next I have a chat with Quentin Knights of the 'Nova Spero', which, along with another boat, is going to fish for the Albacore tuna of Cornwall this season. "No one's fished tuna for over 15 years," he says. A study in 2003 showed it was viable, though last year they struggled to sell it as the merchants didn't know how to sell it on.

Unlike the blue or yellow fin tuna, which are protected, the Albacore, sometimes called 'white meat' tuna is relatively plentiful; it's also line caught and dolphin friendly. "It's a top quality product," says Quentin before going on to explain the hard work and research that's gone into setting up this venture. M&J Seafood have agreed to pay a fixed price for all their catch this season. They're also able to get the fish to a wider market, such as you.

It's these sorts of new arrangements and relationships that are throwing a lifeline to the Cornish fishing fleet. They're doing their best to bring new and exciting products to market and change their business model to a more sustainable one. "This is what I know, this is what I do… and I'm good at it," says Quentin, and I believe him.

When I returned to the car I found it'd had been clamped, so that's me doing my bit and putting £73 in the local economy. Read all about it on the diary page.