From sea to plate – the future of fishing locally and sustainably

FROM SEA TO PLATE

Writer

Laura Nickoll

Photographers

Storme Sabine and Jaron James

Ramsgate’s fishing industry is as old as the town, and for centuries locals have been fed from the fruits of the sea. In today’s choppy fishing waters a new drive is underway to get us to eat more local and sustainable fish. Laura Nickoll has been finding out more

Fish and fishing have long been an intrinsic part of Ramsgate life: at one point there were almost as many fishing boats as there were houses. In centuries past, our harbour town was once a busy trading port and the harbour thrummed with seafaring activities – the row of cafés on Military Road used to be netting shops and boat repair businesses, and there was an icehouse (now the HQ for Ramsgate Sea Scouts), and of course the Smack Boys’ Home and Sailors’ Church, places of refuge and guidance for sailors and young apprentices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Once a prosperous local business, fishing is now a precarious way of life. The factors that have led to the diminishing of Ramsgate’s fleet are complex, explain Merlin Jackson and John Nichols, treasurer and chairman of the Thanet Fisherman’s Association (TFA), a voluntary organisation that represents fishing vessels along the North Kent coast. Together with other fishing industry representatives, they are working tirelessly to advocate for local fishing businesses and make it a viable way to make a living for future generations.

“In 2000 there were 39 boats between the three harbours [Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate], but now there are just 16,” explains Merlin, who joined his family’s fishing business when he left school and now represents the industry in numerous roles, including acting as fisheries liaison across the Thames Estuary. “I am passionate about this industry and we need to keep pushing forward. If we thought there was no hope, we wouldn’t be doing what we do.” John started as an apprentice in boat building, and since then has “done everything on the water that’s legal”, from fishing and diving to ship attendance and commercial fishing. “I just made the most of what was going on at the time, to earn a living,” he says. As well as working alongside Merlin at the TFA, John has been vicechairman of IFCA (Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority) for the last 25 years.

Of the many issues threatening the industry, pollution of our coastal areas due to sewage spillages, resulting in warnings not to swim in the water, are a major concern. Fishermen are looking to Southern Water to discuss changes that need to be made. Furthermore, Brexit, quotas, offshore development, dredging and industrial trawlers that decimate the seabed (and therefore fish stocks) have dealt a hammer blow to local fishing fleets over the past few years, whose inshore dayboat operations are what many consider the future for sustainable fishing. Unlike industrial trawlers, they fish with small boats for just a few hours at a time, using traditional nets, pots and lines, and leave the seabed undisturbed, which is critical to sustaining the ecological health of the sea. “We’re a non-nomadic fleet: we catch what comes to us, rather than going on search for it, working at maximum 25-mile radius of the port. What comes to us arrives on a seasonal basis,” John explains. What comes into Ramsgate includes Dover sole, skate (thornback

▲ Ian Cannon, photographer Storme Sabine

▲ Ed unloading the catch, photographer Jaron James

ray), plaice, bass, cockles, herring, lobster, crab and whelks – currently one of the most lucrative catches landed in Ramsgate. A type of sea snail, whelks are landed on the quayside then taken by lorry up to Kings Lynn, where they are processed and packaged for selling abroad, mainly to South-East Asia. Much of the fish goes to Fruits de Mer in Broadstairs, the main local outlet, and to Ian Cannon, whose harbourside seafood stall is the last remaining fishmonger in town. Ian comes from a family of fisherman and runs Ship Shape café alongside coxing for the RNLI lifeboat. Every once in a while, he heads out potting for lobsters (getting a decent haul, if the spider crabs don’t fill the pots first). “For me, fishing is a way of getting away from everything. It’s enjoyable but I’ve not got to rely on it for my sole income,” he says.

It’s a “difficult time to be a fisherman”, says Merlin, and “skills shortage is an issue. The intake has declined enormously as there’s not the appeal there was.” If the marketplace can change, a career as a fisherman can once more be an attractive prospect. Merlin confesses that there are easier jobs to do, but “once you’re sucked in, that’s it”.

As an island nation we eat a surprisingly small quantity of seafood (bar fish and chips, of course), and it has a reputation for being hard to cook, and fiddly. However, most fish can be bought from fishmongers ready-prepared and needs little more than a brief sizzle in a hot pan and a squeeze of lemon juice.

In a bid to get people more excited about the fish we land in UK waters, Fish Local, a non-profit initiative, has been developed to support and champion the Kent and Essex inshore fishing industry. Fish Local’s objective is to get people excited about eating the species we catch, reconnecting consumers with local fishing outlets and getting large retailers and supermarkets on board too. Their website – fishlocal.org – is a good resource of simple cooking tips with a supplier directory and a link to the Fish Local Facebook group (which welcomes both trade and consumers).

Championing unloved and underused species could help the industry recover. “Herring used to be massively popular,” says Merlin. “Twenty years ago, we sold thousands of herring to Ramsgate residents every week – sprats too. We need the public to understand that these fish are delicious, and we need more opportunities to sell fish from boats and local fishmongers to the local community.” Herring and bass are there for the taking, and for bass, John tells me, “the demand is there, but although we’re rich in stock, the quota isn’t sufficient. Quotas need to be more regionally specific”. With the herring, the opposite is the case: there’s the quota, but not the demand. Most of us are familiar with rollmops (pickled herring fillets), whitebait (usually small sprats), and kippers (smoked herring) and oatmeal–coated herring fried in butter, a Scottish classic – but there are other ways to prepare this nutritious, abundant fish, and a few of our finest local chefs are here to help (see page 12).

No one understands the current predicaments faced by the industry better than John, Merlin and Ian, but they remain determined that Ramsgate’s fishing fleet has a bright future. It’s all hands on deck, for the authorities that have the capacity to make fishing to be a viable business, and for us, the consumer, to buy local and enjoy the abundance of our seas.

WHAT’S IN SEASON AND AVAILABLE NOW

Dover sole Skate (thornback ray) Whelks Cockles Lobster Herring Sprats Huss (rock salmon) Rig (dogfish)

▼ Fresh haul of sea bass, photographer Jaron James

▼ John Nichols and Merlin Jackson, photographer Storme Sabine