Hastings Fish brand

You may have seen articles about the Hastings Fish brand, or known it was launched at the recent Seafood & Wine Festival (Hastings Borough Council website), but I was made very aware of the brand when I witnessed an enthusiastic representative from Hastings Fish interviewing a local chef who has supported and championed the local fishing industry. Indeed, locally sustainably caught fish has been championed, even against the wishes of those customers who frequently would prefer having cod in their fish supper, even if it is only available out of season as unfrozen cod caught by Russian or Chinese fishing boats (see their facebook page for many interviews and features). 

If you see the brand label above, you can be assured that the fish used in that establishment is locally and sustainably sourced whenever possible, but ask if you have any doubts. The contradiction that EU funding is supporting the brand and Hastings fishing industry, despite most members of the local fishing community campaigning to leave the EU, would be ironic if written into a play! However, £800,000 EU funding to support Hastings fishing fleet was secured by the Council earlier this year (Hastings Online Times website). This is a source of money that won't be available in future, indeed, the Chancellor Philip Hammond at the Conservative Party conference just this week has reiterated there are many more years of austerity to come...

You can find out more about Hastings Fish at their website.

Hastings Fishing Boats Protest!

Well, it's again with thanks to our wonderful roving photographer that these images from the weekend's fishing industry protest can be shared, cheers Marcus!

In a carefully staged campaign around the country, protests were held by about 200 fishing boats at the same time in Whitstable, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Milford Haven and Newcastle, as well as in Hastings, aggrieved by what they consider to be an 'abject betrayal' by the Government over Brexit effectively being extended until the end of 2010, despite the referendum being in June 2016, nearly 2 years ago!

Boats came to join Hastings fishing boats from many ports including Rye, Newhaven, Eastbourne, Folkestone and Colchester. Essentially angry that, despite promises from Brexiteers in Ukip and the Tory Party that British coastal waters would be brought under the control of the British Government, that there had been no movement yet, and didn't look like there would be any movement until 2021 at the earliest!

However, as I've alluded to many times since Greenpeace came to town 3 years ago (blog), the real problem for Under Ten Metre Fishing Boats such as in Hastings (nearly 80% of British fishing boats are allowed only 4% of the total British catch!), which carry out sustainable fishing, was actually the British Government and Defra pandering to the 'bigger boys' and their larger trawlers, which carry out unsustainable fishing. Indeed, Defra even allowing them to sell off some of their rights to foreign vessels!

The Right-wing businessman and xenophobe, Arron Banks, who funds Ukip and made a huge financial contribution towards the 'Leave' campaign, appears to have been a spokesperson for the weekend's protests and is scaremongering yet again, asserting that the EU will attempt to "cull what is left of the British (fishing) industry" and that we are "staring down the barrel of a gun with this transition deal."

Meanwhile Defra have contradicted Banks, asserting that it had already negotiated with the EU, and that the British share of the common fisheries catch would not be reduced over the transition period, which is about "delivering a smooth and orderly Brexit."

So who do we believe? Personally I wouldn't trust either of them! Certainly not a major political funder and businessman who has his own agenda... Nor Defra, who have appeared to have been under the thrall of the large trawler fishing fleets elsewhere in Britain, and who have not supported the New Under Ten Fishermens Association (NUTFA website), and certainly not supported the sustainable fishing policy promised by the Coastal Champions 5-point action plan (blog) signed up to by our MP, the Member of Parliament for Hastings & Rye, 3 years ago!

The only thing I can add is, watch this space...

Sustainable Fishing - Good and Bad News...

Good and bad news for the Hastings fishing fleet, first, the quota for plaice caught by our local fishing fleet has increased a wee bit, good news, indeed... but then, despite the opportunity to catch a plentiful local supply of cod, a similar increase has been give to boats that fish in the North Sea only (more at the Guardian website and at the Marine Conservation Society website). 

Sadly, the MAFF and British politicians appear to fail Hastings again!  

Today, Wednesday: Cooking Sustainable Seafood at the Stade

Not free, but it looks interesting! See website... 

The time to push for a greater quota perhaps?

Perhaps now is the time to push for a greater quota from MAFF, Amber? 

Our Member of parliament for the last 5 years, Amber Rudd, was unsuccessful in persuading MAFF to increase the quota of fish that Under 10 metre boats are allowed to catch, whilst she was a mere MP and junior government minister... Now she is a fully fledged Minister, will she actually get something done? OK, it's not her Department, but surely she has a bit more sway in Government now, or will she waste another 5 years not representing her constituents in Hastings? 

Although she didn't get to the meeting at the East Hastings Sea Angling Association in March, she did send a recording of her support for the local fishermen and Greenpeace 'Coastal Champions' campaign. I'd suggest we all write to her to remind her of this pledge before she disappears for another 5 years...