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Cornish Fishermen look to Housewife for Lifeline
Fish market closures and hauliers road blocks across Spain next week threaten to heap further misery on the Cornish fishing industry already on its knees due to spiraling fuel costs.
Fishermen in Cornwall will be particularly affected by the latest action in Spain as a large part of their catches; particularly Megrim Sole, Hake and Spider Crab are sold almost exclusively to Spanish customers.
Therefore, the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation and Seafood Cornwall are jointly asking the British Housewife to buy these species in coming weeks to help avert a complete economic meltdown of the Cornish fleet.
"From recent meetings with Fisheries Minister, Jonathan Shaw MP, it is clear that there is no political will from the Government to support UK fishermen, who it should not be forgotten are primary food producers, in their time of need. There is a lot of political talk about food security and increasing costs but not a pile of action or commitment" said Paul Trebilcock, Chief Executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation. "Therefore, we are asking the British housewife to throw the Fishing Industry a lifeline by demanding, buying and eating more of the fish we catch in Cornwall. It is top quality, responsibly caught and coming ashore here in Cornwall, so low on food miles" he added.
Nathan de Rozarieux, Project Director of Seafood Cornwall explains "Landings of Megrim sole in Cornwall by the offshore trawler fleet, most exposed to high fuel costs, topped 600 tonnes in 2007 worth over £3m at first sale, making them the second most valuable catch to Cornwall, of which 90% were exported to Spain".
Inshore boats too are equally affected as shell fishermen in North Cornwall are struggling to sell their Spider Crab catches and are now being forced to store catches in the hope that conditions will improve.
"This time of year Spider Crab is the mainstay of our catch, but this year we are facing a disaster with high fuel price and no access to our main market, so at the moment I have 4 tonnes of Spider Crab which I can't sell" said Newquay fisherman Martin Gilbert.
The majority of Spider Crab landings in the UK are from Cornwall with 800 tonnes being landed in 2007. "Traditionally, there been a good market in Spain and Portugal for this sweet tasting crab - a distant relation to the King Crab seen on CH4's The Deadliest Catch TV programme - but with the strikes in Spain this really is a golden opportunity for food lovers at home to see what they have been missing out on" said Mr de Rozarieux.
"In many fish shops and supermarkets these fish will not ordinarily be stocked, but customers are urged to demand them as they are readily available through traditional wholesale channels" he added.
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