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Grimsby Fish Market bids farewell to the EU but not to Europe
A hub for trade in cod and haddock The Grimsby Fish Market, one of the most important ďŹ sh markets in the UK, trades mainly in cod and haddock (two of the most consumed species in the UK) that arrives primarily from Iceland and Norway. Grimsby and its surroundings have a well-established processing industry which is a magnet for ďŹ shermen and ďŹ sh traders. Martyn Boyers, the Chief Executive of the Grimsby Fish Market, explains the role of the market and the auction in the UK ďŹ sh trade and outlines his vision for the future of the enterprise. What are the trends you can see in relation to the market in terms of products, product forms, national, and international trade? Is most of the seafood sold on the market intended for the UK? Are there many foreign buyers of seafood that arrives at the market? In the case of Grimsby Fish Market, historically we have only dealt with whole fresh fish, predominately cod and haddock. The main source of these supplies, approximately 75, is Iceland. Grimsby used to have a major fishing fleet and in the late 1950s and early 1960s Grimsby was the biggest fishing port in the world! In those days the deep sea trawlers caught fish around Icelandic waters which was mainly cod and haddock. They have always been the most abundant species which is why the trend has continued to this day. What has changed has been the route to market. The ‘Cod Wars’ of the late 70s and early 80s resulted in the Grimsby deep-water fleet being diminished to the point of extinction. However, the fish kept coming as Grimsby Fish Market and its processors adapted to the new conditions. That change was fresh caught fish from Iceland being dispatched to Grimsby in containers on regular routes facilitated by Eimskip and Samskip. Although the volumes are not what they used to be, we receive containerised fish to this day on a weekly basis.
According to Seafish, seafood consumption in the UK has been declining over the last 10 years for reasons including austerity, price inflation, and reduced spending power. Can the Grimsby Fish Market, as one of the biggest fish markets in the UK, contribute to reversing this trend? Grimsby Fish Market has been part of the British Ports Association Fishing Ports Group and, as it happens, I am the Chairman. As a result, I was invited to be part of an initiative formalised by ‘DEFRA’ the Government department that covers fisheries, facilitated by Seafish, to develop and promote ‘Seafood 2040’ which is a strategic framework and vision with an objective to increase consumption of seafood to two portions a week. What role do auctions play at the Grimsby Fish Market? The auction is fundamental to the Fish Market in Grimsby and the main reason for being operational. There is a misconception about the role of fish auctions, but they all play a critical role in the wheels of the seafood industry. Fish auctions like ours, are sat fairly between fishermen and processors to determine the price of fresh fish on any given day. They also act as a barometer for those traders and FAS (frozen at sea) dealers to establish price. If there were no auctions who would determine
Martyn Boyers, Chief Executive, Grimsby Fish Market
the price of fish? Probably the supermarkets of Europe would set prices like they have done with other commodities! Fresh fish supplies fluctuate naturally so prices can do the same, the natural place for that to happen is a fresh fish auction.
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What happens to fish that does not find buyers? In the last few years we have not had any fish unsold which is testament to the depth of the processing industry around Grimsby. It seems there is a home here for everything!
05/02/20 1:06 PM
