Being a Fishmonger

How did you feel when you learned that you were to become a Fishmonger?  If that happened a long time ago (as in my case), it may be difficult to recapture the precise memory.  I can only recall awe and a not a little confusion.  I remember a frivolous comment made to me some years later about it being “the finest dining club in London” but my first impressions were more of a wondering nature.  What did it all involve? 

Of course the food at Livery Dinners is superb.  There is more, much more, to the Fishmongers’ Company than that, however.  The Annual Review tells you a lot but only scratches the surface of the events of a single year.  The Company’s history goes back hundreds of years.  Its current members are heirs to a proud record stretching back over centuries.  Thus, they inherit a responsibility to nurture, add to and embellish that record. 

The part of the Company’s activities about which I know most is the Shellfish Association of Great Britain.  It was founded at Fishmonger’s Hall about 120 years ago and, until fairly recently, was permitted to use office space in the Hall.  It is a trade association representing those dealing in shellfish – literally from the sea to the plate.  The Association, known to its members as ‘SAGB’ is privileged to hold its annual Dinner at the Hall. 

Among the highlights of my time working with the Shellfish Association was attendance in the 1970’s at a day-long debate in the House of Lords during which Lord Cairns, the then Prime Warden, made his maiden speech.  The subject of the debate was ‘Fish Farming’.  To many people this term conjures up images of cages of salmon in Scottish lochs.  Less well-known is the fact that shellfish, in the form of molluscs like oysters and mussels, are cultivated in many places around the coast.  It is often described as ‘aquaculture’ or ‘mariculture’. 

The SAGB is a tiny organisation.  At its largest, it has never had more than four employees.  Currently (and hopefully for only a brief time), it is down to two.  To do its job, it relies on volunteers, many from the industry and some, like me, who are interested Fishmongers anxious to help.  If a government department wishes to get the views of the shellfish industry, it contacts SAGB.  The job is a huge one.  It is endless. 

Molluscs have already been mentioned.  Oysters, mussels, scallops and cockles are well-known examples.  They derive their nutrition by filtering seawater through their bodies.  Problems arise for those involved in their cultivation if that water is polluted.  Molluscs are on the receiving end of all those unchecked sewage discharges that we hear so much about from the media.  Pollution can crush, even eradicate, shellfish aquaculture. 

You have to be a pretty special person to embark on a career in shellfish cultivation.  I have been privileged to meet many of them.  I admire them all immensely.  The job demands a unique level of dedication along with significant investment.  Perseverance through adversity and a sense of humour are also essential.  Oh, and by the way, the standard joke is that when you have a conversation with two of them, you will get four different opinions! 

Another class of shellfish is crustaceans – lobsters and crabs being the most obvious examples.  We do not know the extent to which they can be affected by water pollution.  Our knowledge of their cultivation is in its infancy.  The National Lobster Hatchery in Padstow, Cornwall is looking into both these aspects and has benefited from the support of the Fishmongers’ Company. 

This brings me to the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust to which I have been able to provide some help.  My focus is ‘water quality’.  We know that all life ultimately depends upon the availability of water to sustain it.  Mankind has traditionally used the sea and waterways as dumps where ‘out of sight is out of mind’.  The plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other wastes that humankind has dumped in the last couple of centuries have combined to tell us today that ‘enough is enough’. 

There is a long way to go but we are making a start.  I remain eternally grateful for the opportunities that the Fishmongers’ Company has given me to be involved in all this. 

Jeremy Simmonds