Fishing for our Future

The main issue with sustainability is that it is a most complicated and far-reaching subject that involves many factors and livelihoods.

Our principle aim is to ensure that the wild fish we supply to our customers is responsibly caught from sustainable fishing grounds…a vital issue as we’re sure you will agree.  In the main, the majority of our fish is caught within the quotas allowed from North East Atlantic waters, although more exotic varieties of fish will come from fisheries further afield.

Flat fish species such as lemon sole and plaice are sourced when possible, from a local company who pride themselves on their sustainability policy and practices, ensuring that the fish they supply to us is from well-managed waters.  For further details please visit www.flatfish-ltd.co.uk/sustainability.asp

The topic of sustainability also covers fishing methods, which vary depending on the fish species and its location in the ocean, but we avoid where possible, fish caught using the beam-trawling method, as this is deemed the most disruptive method due to its potential to damage the ocean floor.

Information regarding the fishing methods is available to us on a daily basis by our suppliers and is generally either line caught or trawled. There may also be a mix of day-boat caught fish and fish caught on larger vessels that stay out at sea for longer periods.

We also supply farmed fish such as salmon and trout – our salmon is carefully sourced from well-managed fish farms in Scotland, the Shetlands, Norway and the Faroes, whilst our trout is farmed locally in Louth, Lincolnshire.

The widely published subject of discards is a more difficult one for a small supplier like ourselves to impact on - discards are exactly as described and the fish never reaches land. Due to the structure of our business, it would prove difficult for us to offer this fish even if it did reach market, as the volume and species would be too variable for our business model.

We are confident though that other business sectors such as restaurants and fishmongers could easily utilise the fish and wholeheartedly support the ‘Fish Fight’ campaign of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, as only pressure on the government and changes to the Common Fishery Policy can reduce the level of discarded fish.  If you wish to support Hugh’s campaign you can do so by joining the discard protest at www.fishfight.net.

In addition, we work hard to provide a varied range of products and actively encourage our customers to try lesser known species through recipe ideas and promotions. By trying lesser utilised varieties of fish, our customers can assist in helping take the pressure off the more popular species.