We are surrounded by sea so why is fish so expensive?

ROMILO

MawsRosie

This is a discussion about the high cost of fish when we are surrounded by fishing grounds making what was once a staple for many people into a luxury for those with the money to spend
Please don’t patronise me by saying what this discussion may or may not be about.
We may be an island but as I said the fish are not waiting to jump into the trawlers’ nets. We do not have exclusive rights in fishing grounds off our coasts and cost reflects labour, fuel, risks, reduced catches when weather des not permit, transport and distribution costs.
The humble herring once a staple has been overfished almost to extinction and rising sea temperatures are also having an effect on stocks of some types of fish .
Fishing has always been a dangerous occupation and this is reflected in what we pay and no doubt the numbers prepared to take the risks compared with cushier indoor occupations.
Are you familiar with the song Caller (fresh) Herring?
This classic Scottish song "Caller Herrin'" features lyrics written by Lady Nairne around 1821 to a musical air by Nathaniel Gow. The song reflects the street cries of Newhaven fishwives and contrasts the dangers faced by fishermen on the Firth of Forth with the wealthy buyers.
You get what you pay for and pay for what you get.

I am sorry if I offended you there was no intention to patronise and you obviously have a very personal connection to the fishing industry, however as a lot of people have stated the price if fish has increased far in excess of other foods and that was the point of the post.

Originating from Hull and being very well aware of the dangers trawlermen face every day I actually thought MawsRosies post was quite patronising not yours Romilo.

Hear hear 🤗🌷

You're not going to get trout from the sea!

Think of the overheads fuel being the main one !

As far as I know, fish don't respect lines on a chart. Perhaps many fish caught in British waters come from France, for example, and vice versa. I wonder how the authorities take that into account when assessing resources and allocating catches. Anyway, I could get a fish supper for 2 bob in the sixties, so the cost has gone up one hundred fold at least, around 3 times prices generally. Shortages due to overfishing must have a lot to do with it.

Because traitorous politicians let other countries take it!!! GRRRRR!!! Infuriates me.

I do eat fish but I worry that they live in the filthy, toxic soup that humans have caused. The chemicals from ocean-going vessels, jet fuel dumps, space capsules landing at sea, industrial waste on immeasurable scales, plus sewage discharges, let alone the bodily waste produced by all these ocean- and river-dwelling species. If the fish or shellfish caught has spent its life in dirty, contaminated water, surely there’s a knock-on effect to those eating it? I check labels when I’m shopping, eg I buy wild-caught cold water prawns, and wild Alaskan salmon, but I don’t trust any aspect of the food industry and if I thought about it too much I’d eat only what I can grow or rear at home, and that’s a lot less than it used to be now as I get older.

ROMILO

Trying to eat a bit more healthily we decided to cut down on red meat and eat more fish. I am not a big fan of supermarket packaged fish so I went to a fishmonger. Two average portions of haddock and two of trout pennies short of £25.

In a word.....overfishing!

Basa is certainly a bit cheaper than cod and haddock, but I read that we should be wary, as it’s caught/farmed in unhealthy conditions. Not sure how accurate that information is, but it has made me stop and think about buying it.

Originating from Hull and being very well aware of the dangers trawlermen face every day I actually thought MawsRosies post was quite patronising not yours Romilo

What part of my post did you find patronising?
It was intended as a factual response to OP’s question as well as the suggestion upthread that more fatalities occur in agriculture than in fishing - which without hard statistical evidence, I would seriously question . My quote from Lady Nairn’s poem and the song were intended to show it was ever thus.

My mum used to get "yellow fish" and make a kedgeree if she was short on the pennies. Now it (smoked haddock) is a luxury item and kedgeree is a rare treat.
I make a special trip to Asda occasionally and check out their "quick sale" items for fish. When they have a real bargain on good fish, it goes in my freezer. I don't like Basa, (a catfish from Thailand), it is too wet and loose formed. I can't eat Tuna. Ok, I can eat it but it makes me sick, both fresh and tinned.

Totally agree with you. I’m lucky enough to live by the sea and a port where I can buy fish straight off the boats. But it’s so difficult as everything goes to export or restaurants! No chance for us to

I just bought Sea Bass fillets on clearance sale at the Co-op 😂use by today - £4 for 2 fillets - so I bought 4 trays, marinated them and put them straight in the freezer - 2 each in a freezer bag - quite pleased 😀

I recently saw a Brixham fisherman being interviewed on our local news . He was saying it now costs him £3000 for fuel for 1 trip before any other costs like crew wages etc! He said he is getting close to making no profit at all. I can understand why prices are so high.

Because the fish don’t throw themselves on the docksides ready filleted, they have to be caught, sorted, filleted etc
Deep sea fishing is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous occupations due to risks like heavy seas, equipment hazards, and limited health and safety regulations, with deck crews especially vulnerable to injury or falling overboard.

Paperbackwriter

You're not going to get trout from the sea!

Sea trout fishing is very strict regulated and licensed in this country, I believe.

I love mussels ,especially when I’m in France.My favourite fish is halibut,but it’s so expensive.

Aely My mum used to get "yellow fish" and make a kedgeree if she was short on the pennies

I remember that’s what my mother used to give me also and Coley for the cat.

Fish has gone up a lot in price but £25 is a lot.. Expensive in Scotland too but not as expensive as that from my fishmanthat I've had for about 25 years. 2 pieces os beautiful salmon and 2 lemon sole approx £16

Perhaps it would help if we actually liked some of the fish in our own waters. Fish like whiting, pollack, wrasse or gurnard. Then there are the spider crabs that the French love.

We are surrounded by the vast Pacific but fish is still very expensive here. I think there are not so many fishermen around these days and there are a lot of limits imposed here, being a nanny country. Probably profit margins are low.

Meandrogrog

Our fishing industry was decimated after. Joining the EU. After leave won there were big signs all around a local harbour saying thank you. Didnt starmer surrender our fishing grounds to the French?

Keir Starmer continued existing arrangements, he also cut down red tape on exports bringing down costs for exporters of salmon annd shellfish and committed £360 million to the fishing industry.

The truth is UK consumers do not want the fish from our waters, ie mackerel and shellfish, what people want is cod and haddock which we import, hence the higher prices.

MawsRosie

^Originating from Hull and being very well aware of the dangers trawlermen face every day I actually thought MawsRosies post was quite patronising not yours Romilo^

What part of my post did you find patronising?
It was intended as a factual response to OP’s question as well as the suggestion upthread that more fatalities occur in agriculture than in fishing - which without hard statistical evidence, I would seriously question . My quote from Lady Nairn’s poem and the song were intended to show it was ever thus.

MawsRosie. In answer to your question, I found the whole of your first post patronising.

I was simply answering the question posed in the thread title as others have done since
1) fishing is a dangerous and often erratic as well as labour intensive industry, dependent on many imponderables
2) costs cover a multiplicity of elements- not least fuel for the fishing boats, as well as for distribution
3) fishermen deserve a decent wage (see 1)
4) stocks of what used to be regarded as ‘cheap’ fish can be sadly depleted due to over-fishing, fishing rights regulations and yes, rising sea temperatures due to climate change
5) tastes nationally may have changed, many shoppers prefer more exotic imported foodstuffs over the humbler coley, hake, haddock etc
6) Frozen food has made it possible to import fish from other parts of the world where wages and health and safety measures my be less well regarded.
7) with the exception of the likes of fish farms for salmon, or mussels, fish cannot be reared intensively like chicken or pork
Enough reasons?

MawsRosie

😂😂😂😂
They don’t just jump into the fishing trawler nets you know!
Fishing is a dangerous and demanding occupation, subject to often appalling weather and sea conditions -fog, storms, high winds (listen to the shipping forecast) and last but not least fishing regulations to prevent overfishing of some types.
The catch has to be landed- often in the early hours of the morning, loaded onto transport and taken to the fish markets or wholesalers. And all without going off.
You can’t “farm” haddock etc like lamb, beef or pork and our fishing fleets risk their lives on a daily basis.
It’s not expensive, we could be paying with the fishermen’s lives.

Hear, hear. People are so complacent. Also, fussy. Oily fish is cheaper.