A Passion for Seafood

29/03/2026

24/03/2026

Tuesday market at Newlyn - not huge but plenty of variety and great quality 👌🏻



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24/03/2026

Back down Newlyn 😊 Quay Connections visit today, but I always like to get on the market and see what’s been landed 🤔🐟🦞🦑

We’ll be spending the day getting under the skin of the fishing industry and talking to those who work at the coal face, about the realities - challenges and opportunities that fishermen face throughout the year and what it takes to bring fish and shellfish to market. 🐟🦀

Always exciting and always educational to see seafood so fresh and straight off the boat and to hear some of the stories that abound in this most amazing industry 🐟🐟🐟

23/03/2026

The octopus bloom in the SW continues unabated. Here one of the Newlyn crabbers has just landed 2.5 tonnes. It’s a clear and present threat to crab, lobster and scallop populations with the potential for an ecological disaster.

Common European octopus (Octopus vulgaris) are a native species around the southern waters of the UK, but since this time last year, we’ve seen unprecedented numbers across mainly the Southern coasts of Devon and Cornwall.

Of course there is value to them and the markets have doubtless benefitted over the course of the last 12 months, but it does beg the question whether it’s sustainable or not - especially when voraciously, they eat everything shellfish-wise, in sight.

It’s fascinating to see them, but the ongoing invasion poses a real challenge for fishing communities, where crab and lobster especially are the mainstay. 🤔

I’ll be posting about this extraordinary phenomenon on my Substack next month 🐙

20/03/2026

I’m absolutely thrilled to be returning this year to the wonderful Porthminster Beach, for the one and only 🐟

Sadly though, this year I won’t have my dear friend to keep me inspired, as he’ll be away on other duties, however, I’m sure I’ll be in great company with and 🦞

Last year the weather was simply incredible ☀️Keeping everything crossed for Friday May 15th 🤞🏻

So what should I cook - it’s going to be over fire. I’m thinking something whole and flat 🤔🐟

17/03/2026

Well, well well! I’ve been shortlisted in the 2026 for Industry Supporter of The Year ! 😮🐟🦞🦀

It’s an honour and privilege to work in this incredible industry, alongside so many wonderful characters, who I’ve been fortunate enough not just to learn from and collaborate with, but who have also become great friends.

Our UK fishing industry has inspired me to travel, write about, broadcast, promote and showcase everything to do with responsible, sustainable and seasonal seafood production around our shores.

It’s a fascinating and highly rewarding journey and I thank everyone who’s helped and supported me along the way !

If you fancy voting for me you can via the link in my bio or visit the Fishing News website, where there are a whole host of other shortlistees in other categories doing wonderful things for our industry 🐟🦞🦀

The Awards ceremony is in Aberdeen on May 6th

10/03/2026

I love this time of the year. It’s not just a whiff of spring in the air, but the excitement that the Cromer crab season is upon us 🦀

I’ve followed the fortunes of the Cromer fishermen for many years now and first went to sea with the Bywater family at East Runton back in 2016 when I wrote a piece for my blog entitled Life’s a Beach’ - link in bio.

Since then, I’ve got to know more of the fleet really well and learned about just how low impact, sustainable and responsibly managed their fishery is, despite it being in a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ)

The grounds form part of the Cromer Shoal, a prehistoric chalk reef stretching some 30 miles along the North Norfolk coast between Weybourne and Happisburgh. This incredible chalk bed, carved out in its current form by glacial activity in the last Ice Age, is unique in both its habitat and ecology. Many species of sea life-both plant and animal thrive here, crabs being one of them.

The crab fishery is incredibly important to Cromer and its economy. Potting here can be documented right back to the mid 1800’s, with the fishery peaking at around 200 boats with hundreds employed ashore.

Nowadays, only a fraction of the fleet remains with 30-40 boats still operating from the town beach and neighbouring villages.

It’s a true artisan heritage fishery, more of a living museum and a way of life that should be protected at all costs. Not just from a historical perspective, but because the influence of the fishery is connected and intertwined into so many parts of the local economy and community, making it truly ‘sustainable’

Some believe that the impact of the fishery is detrimental to the reef, but the scale of any harm or adverse effects, pales into insignificance in comparison to the violence and destruction unleashed on the reef in just one bad winter storm, as any of the fishermen will tell you.

So enjoy your Cromer crab with confidence, it’s delicious, seasonal and ‘bootiful’ as they say on the beach 😉

You’ll also be helping to protect an environment where actually the fishermen are themselves both the conservationist and the vulnerable species 🦀🦀🦀

28/02/2026

Over the last twelve years, I’ve been investigating and writing about the UK fishing industry. The journey has taken me all over the British Isles and has helped me build a picture of the diversity and structure of our fishing communities and their sustainability 🐟

My storytelling is all about accuracy and authenticity. If I can’t portray the industry and the lives of fishermen sympathetically and with integrity, then the message is lost.

Getting beneath the surface of what they do to try and understand more fully, the challenges and opportunities they face, is integral and over the years I’ve made a conscious effort to be as much a part of their lives and routines as possible, without being too intrusive.

For a few years, that meant fishing (albeit recreationally) myself for lobsters here on the Suffolk Coast. Apart from being a trip down memory lane, it taught me an awful lot about the job and that the actual catch process is backed up by an incredible amount of hard work ashore, which brings the everyday reality of bring a fisherman into sharper focus.

Experience, trust, integrity. The foundations stones for great storytelling 🦞

fishingreality

27/02/2026

Earlier this week I had the honour and privilege of presenting to over 250 esteemed industry leaders, policy makers, experts and guests, at the annual Norway-Uk Seafood Summit, brilliantly hosted by at the magnificent venue, that is Fishmongers Hall 🐟

My subject was ‘Does Sustainability Matter to the UK Consumer’ a subject close to my heart, as I continue my work with our fishing communities and the UK seafood sector 🐟

The take away (excuse the pun 😉) here is that increasingly sustainability does matter, although the consumer might not necessarily understand all its implications. It is often the factor that differentiates a purchase, when price, taste, convenience etc are equal. An absence of sustainability = an absence of trust 🐟

‘Today’s sustainability IS tomorrow’s trust and credibility is the driver for long term growth’

credibility

03/02/2026

There are a few spaces left for our East Anglian F-REP - all fishermen welcome to apply 🐟🦀

Our final F-REP of the season is just around the corner, and we’re heading to East Anglia!

We’ve still got a few spaces left, so get your applications in to secure your place! We’re looking forward to welcoming participants from across the region for three days of shared learning, discussion and practical thinking about fisheries, science and management.

As ever, F-REPs are about creating a space to step back, compare notes and build the understanding and connections that support collaboration in the long term.

Stay tuned for more as we’ll be sharing live updates and insights from the event, as well as the opportunity for scientists and researchers to get involved in our industry-science mixer.

📍 Norwich
📆 3rd to 6th March
🔗 Find more information via the link here: https://loom.ly/WzTsd-8

10/12/2025

Fantastic day for our guests attending the latest ‘Getting to Know Farmed Shellfish’ workshop at Billingsgate yesterday 🦪🇬🇧