Credit crunch hits fish fleet

By aali alex ali aali@heraldexpress.co.uk

BELT tightening during the recession has seen a fall in demand for fresh fish and a quay-side prices plunge of more than 20 per cent, figures reveal.

Brixham's fishermen are feeling the pinch as their profits shrink while people opt for cheaper food options.

Jim Portus, chief executive of South Western Fish Producer Organisation, called for shoppers to support Brixham's fishing trade and said: "Buy it fresh, buy it local with low food miles. You may be paying for quality but at the end of the day don't abandon quality. It is your industry you are supporting."

Rick Smith, managing director of Brixham Trawler Agents, said the price per kilo of fish had fallen by 21 per cent since last year, but said 2008 was a record season for price.

"We are back to 2006 prices now," he said.

"We had a very good 2007 and 2008 and the prices have dropped back. It reflects on the fact we aren't catching so much bulk fish, like anchovies. The price of fish is down generally."

Mr Portus explained consumers had revolted against expensive food and the idea fish is expensive, saying: "There is resistance to buy fish in the supermarket. The consumer, rather than buying fresh fish, is buying other forms of protein which are less expensive. And because of that the supermarkets are having difficulty shifting fresh fish, so they are paying less for it because there is more waste.

"That is the reality of it, and that is why there has been a drop in the price of fresh fish. It is a vicious circle and one which can only be broken by the consumer."

He said people shopping in supermarkets were 'quite a few steps removed from the fishermen and the quay, saying that is where 'the resistance is'.

"It is at the consumer end where the person shopping for the family is conscious of the fact they have less money in their pocket to spend in the shops, and people don't give up the luxuries in life.

"It is always the food items which suffer first and those in the supermarket business know this, and so they try to keep the shoppers buying and they have special offers on things but you never see special offers on locally-caught fish."

He said the price of fish stays the same in the supermarket but the cost of catching it, producing it and transporting it has gone up, while the price at the quayside has fallen.

Mr Smith said the profits aren't being made in the fish market but by the wholesalers or the retailers. He added: "The supermarkets or merchants are making super, super profits but not passing it on to the housewife.

"It is the same old story at the farm gate, it is not reaching the people who produce it."

Fishermen cannot influence the market, according to Mr Portus saying once they have caught, gutted, iced and boxed the fish and it has gone through the first sale at market, they have 'no control' over the price.

"They hope it is a good price, which covers the price of running the boat, the mortgage and paying wages and hope to come out with a profit so they can put money aside for something more modern once a boat reaches the end of its life," he said.

Mr Portus added that Brixham's fishing fleet were brow-beaten by the loss of the 'best part of £1million' in quotas for Dover sole in December, which means they have to make up the shortfall with other fish like cuttlefish, lemon sole, squid and red mullet.

But he said Brixham's fishermen were 'tenacious by nature' and were in it 'for the long haul', adding: "They haven't been brow-beaten by 20 years or more of fisheries policy, so I don't see them giving up. They will hang on in there until the next up-turn."

He added that fishermen were embracing marketing measures and environmental impact measures to reduce the harm done to the marine environment to improve the industry and ensure it is sustainable. "In return for that they want consumers to back Britain and buy British," he said.

Martin Purnell, director of Brixham-based Channel Fisheries, who were awarded a Royal Warrant in 2006, said: "All I would say is I have been doing this for 25 years and the market is based on supply and demand and the market will react to that on a daily basis.

"Demand isn't quite as high as it has been and the supply is good, so the price has fallen for some species, while other remain at the same price."

OPINION: Page 8