Innovative Responses Event: All Our Panelists' Answers

Our most recent event explored a number of the innovative responses to the pandemic from within the fishing industry. The panel was made up of representatives from a range of industry-led initiatives that have supported British seafood through a variety of approaches. The panel consisted of Chris Ranford from Seafood Cornwall, Bob McCoubrey of Mourne Seafood Bar, Ben King of Pesky Fish, Patrick Salmon of Alfred Enderby Ltd, and Martin Yorwarth of Yorwarth’s Fresh Fish.

You can find a full agenda for the event here and catch up on all that happened in our recording below:

Following the presentations, Parliamentarians and attendees put their questions to the panel. Written responses to all questions are provided below.

Legacy 

Do you anticipate that direct consumer demand will continue to grow post-Covid? How can fishermen reconcile this demand with the commitments that they already have with food service and catering markets?

Patrick Salmon noted that his personal preference would be to swap from external to domestic wholesale channels, but that he does think that a combination of the two would be feasible. Ben King anticipates that there will still be high demand for direct consumption, although he acknowledges that there will be a number of consumers who will revert to purchasing from supermarkets.

How can we ensure that we make real, long-term changes to UK seafood eating habits to protect the wild catch sector? 

Bob McCoubrey, Chris Ranford, Sheryll Murray MP and Martin Yorwarth emphasised the importance of educational programmes, marketing campaigns, and media encouragement to prompt the general public to purchase local and abundant species - including recipes and guides on how to prepare it. Martin Yorwarth reiterated that the new norm for ‘quality’ fish needs to be maintained going forward, with easier access to fresh fish via new market routes.

Does Pesky Fish intend to scale up the platform that it is currently running?

Ben King responded that yes, the technology behind their system has proved successful during the pandemic, and would be suitable to scale up to include an unlimited number of boats from across the UK.

Should the industry take a bolder stance and dramatically expand the processing market to take advantage of Brexit opportunities?

Patrick Salmon highlighted that Brexit could provide an opportunity for the UK to develop a new, more streamlined version of the Protected Food Name scheme (covering products such as traditional Grimsby smoked fish) to boost the processing sector.

Encouraging Consumption

When the major supermarkets start to sell fish again, how can they be persuaded to be more adventurous with their British fish offering, taking into consideration price and seasonality?

Martin Yorwarth suggested that supermarkets were not the best placed to fulfil this ambition, since the perceived pursuit of profit over a sustainable and vibrant fishing industry put them at odds with the UK fisheries sector. Further, a highly-regulated fishing industry is in contrast with a more loosely regulated retail sector, and may make them incompatible. He said that traditional fishmongers’ and fishermen are better placed to lead this. Patrick Salmon believes that supermarkets should offer their fish counter to be run by a local fishmonger, since their counters often run at a loss in any case. This would allow counters to be more flexible in terms of seasonality and availability. He also suggests that supermarkets run a collective TV campaign on the benefits of seafood and how to prepare it. Bob McCoubrey agrees that an education programme could help promote less commonly consumed species, and also added that Northern Irish suppliers had suffered from the demands of low-priced products from supermarkets.

What can the industry do to break down the barriers to supplying local, sustainable species in schools to enable educational programmes encouraging consumption?

Martin Yorwarth said that the fishing industry, including himself, is in support of such endeavours, and mentioned his own experiences collaborating with schools. He said that some discards may present a suitable, cheap source of fish for education.

Doesn’t a diverse fishing industry need a diverse range of markets and routes to consumers, which includes supermarkets and direct selling? 

Ben King agreed, noting that a diverse market is needed to stimulate value for fish, and to make it affordable and accessible to consumers. It is important to look at areas for improvement across the whole supply chain to determine what measures would most benefit the industry as a whole.

Have you experienced any customers being put off by fish being sold whole?

Chris Ranford responded that the personal approach of direct selling means that many merchants are able to gauge individual preferences and prepare the fish to order. That said, many Fish To Your Door fishermen have found that customers are happy to purchase fish whole.

Wider Concerns

What is in place to ensure that existing infrastructure (health and safety regulations, auction markets etc.) that are bypassed by direct selling are protected, post-Brexit? 

Sheryl Murray MP noted that this is a cause for concern and will be addressed by the industry to ensure that no sector is unduly damaged by the development of direct-selling models.

Are MPs and industry representatives willing to place pressure on Parliament to seek a reduction in VAT rates on the sale of seafood hospitality to support seafood restaurants?

Reassurance was given by Sheryll Murray MP that the wish for catering establishments to reopen is shared, and that Northern Ireland MPs do raise the issue in parliament. 

How do we tackle and avoid a repeat of the transport challenges that the supply chain experienced during lockdown? Who should lead on this?

Martin Yorwarth said that prioritising such infrastructure is of priority for ensuring food security. He suggested that the government could look to temporarily subsidise transport links in a similar situation, and could potentially even get the support of the army. BobMcCoubrey says that Northern Ireland hasn’t seen such transport issues, but says that post-Brexit scenarios could lead to significant challenges to the import and export of seafood products.

Our next event is on 2 July, and will cover wellbeing, welfare and life at sea - find out more here.

The views expressed here are those of the panelists, rather than the APPG. Please note that the APPG on Fisheries Secretariat is independently managed, and does not speak on behalf of the government. If you wish to quote any of the APPG’s publications, please get in touch.

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