Each year Crisis help to feed London’s homeless people throughout the festive period. In 2019 the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust is pleased to once again donate fish to provide tasty and nutritious meals for those who find themselves without a home.
In 2018 Crisis were able to serve 35,957 meals to London’s homeless, enabled in part by the fish mix donated by the Fishmongers’ Company. Each year Crisis bring warmth, companionship and vital services to homeless people.
November 29 saw the launch on a brand-new programme ‘Fish in School Hero’ to ensure that every child gets a chance to prepare, cook and eat fish before they leave school. The programme aims to train over 400 secondary food teachers to be confident in preparing and cooking fish with students in their classrooms. Teachers will be supported by local Heroes: fishmongers, fish-loving chefs and fish suppliers, as well as other Heroes who will be coming into schools to talk first-hand about their role in bringing seafood from the sea to the plate, highlighting careers and opportunities in the fish industry.
Supported by the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, Fish in School Hero is managed by the Food Teachers Centre and their volunteer team throughout the UK. Launching in East Coast schools, in 2020 and 2021 the programme will be extended throughout the UK, reaching over 60,000 pupils in three years. Louise Davies of the Food Teachers Centre highlighted just why this programme is needed:
“Our Food Teachers absolutely appreciate the support from the Fishmongers’ Company to make this dream a reality. Teachers struggle to learn fish filleting and cooking skills and need a cheap source of fish to allow cooking to happen in their classrooms. The programme will be a game changer for young people. A survey earlier in the year showed that 52% pupils rarely or never cooked fish in school. We are going to improve that dramatically. Teachers can’t wait to get started”.
The launch at Bingley Grammar School, West Yorkshire saw Year 9 and 10 Food & Nutrition and Hospitality & Catering students get hands on with fish and learn from Emma McKeating, Master Fishmonger Standard certified Advanced Fishmonger. For many students this was the first time they had touched, let alone cooked, fish.
The Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Programme Manager, Dr Eleanor Adamson, explained how important it is that young people build their confidence in handling seafood:
“Young people in the UK are eating less and less fish, missing out on the health benefits of seafood, and unaware of sustainable British food choices that are available on their doorstep. We are excited at the chance to work with the Food Teachers Centre to bring seafood straight into classrooms, and showcase the best of UK food choices”
On November 26, the newly formed Missing Salmon Alliance launched their plan of action designed to tackle the alarming decline in wild Atlantic Salmon numbers, to over 150 delegates from key organisations in salmon conservation, at a landmark conference held at Fishmongers’ Hall.
The Missing Salmon Alliance, established with support from the Fishmongers’ Company, brings together the Atlantic Salmon Trust, Salmon & Trout Conservation, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Angling Trust and Fish Legal to address the 88% decline in Atlantic Salmon numbers since the 1970s.
The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Atlantic Salmon Trust and Salmon & Trout Conservation, said in a video message to the Forum which launched the Missing Salmon Alliance:
“The very future of a species that has been swimming in our oceans and seas for over 6 million years will be in jeopardy … We simply cannot allow this to happen in our lifetime. Having our four leading salmon conservation organisations working together, through the Missing Salmon Alliance with support from both the private and public sectors is hugely encouraging.”
Central to the Missing Salmon Alliance is the Likely Suspects Framework, a programme that will work with international scientists and researchers to identify the key pressures on the Atlantic salmon’s life cycle and use this to direct action to where it is most needed to begin to reverse this decline in population.
The framework builds on the findings of the Moray Firth Tracking Programme, which tracks salmon smolts progress from their spawning grounds out to see. The initial findings of this study, supported by the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, were shared at the conference
With funding from the Fishmongers’ Company, researchers have successfully cultured, for the first time in Europe, juveniles of one of the planet’s most valuable seafood species: the European spiny lobster, Palinurus elephas.
The UK’s wild population of the spiny lobster has been severely depleted, decreasing 90% from the 1970s, with the UK fishery now described as residual. The species is still fished but remains a high priority species for biodiversity conservation. However, demand for the species continues to rise.
This creates an opportunity to farm the spiny lobster. As communal animals they can be cultured at high densities and in Australia researchers have closed the life cycle (from hatch to maturity) of their native spiny lobster species and are moving into commercial production. Now, with support from the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, researchers from RAS Aquaculture Research have provided the University of Exeter with feed samples for biochemical analysis. This data will hopefully indicate some key nutrients important to the growth and survival of the larval lobsters during early development. Several new, experimental diets have been trialed, the results of which are to be used to support an upscale in production during the 2020 season.
The settlement time – the time after which juvenile lobsters descend to the sea floor from the plankton – has been reduced from 8-9 months in the wild to 2.5 months under controlled culture, supporting faster growth and development.
This progress represents an exciting chance to boost the UK’s sustainable aquaculture industry, protecting the wild stock of a vulnerable native species and providing export opportunities for its seafood trade.
Since 1973 the Thames Fishery Research Experiment has turned a passion for angling into a citizen science exercise, using a fishing tournament to assess the health of one of the UK’s most iconic rivers. In 2019 the Fishmongers’ Company continued its long-running support for the experiment, providing grant funding and an award for the experiment’s best individual fish.
With teams from Kent, Essex and the Public Services Angling Clubs as well as Gravesham Grammar School and the City of London School for Girls, the competition records the number of fish and diversity of species caught, demonstrating the continued improvement of the river’s health. This year’s experiment, on 12 October, saw 375 fish caught consisting of 7 species including whiting, pouting, flounder, eel, bass and sole.
The Fishmongers’ Cup for the best fish caught was won by Steve Swan of the Kent Angling Team with a 34cm flounder. The Lady Howard Trophy for the team with highest number of points in the Adult Competition was won by Essex County Angling Team. The Schools Trophy was won y the City of London School for Girls.
Photos by Clive Totman.
The Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust are proud to support the UK’s first National Marine Park in Plymouth Sound which was declared on 14 September, 2019. In collaboration with Blue Marine, a long-term partner of the Company, we are working to develop the fisheries policy and framework for this exciting new initiative that has the potential to not only preserve and restore the area’s marine ecosystem but also to transform the way the local community engages with it.
Funding from the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust also enabled the project to secure £180,000 of funding from Waitrose’s Plan Plastic campaign.
Our work focuses on three innovative initiatives that not only support the development of the National Marine Park, but could have significant impacts on the sustainable management of fisheries and marine protected areas across the UK and overseas.
Ghost gear is fishing gear that has been lost at sea and continues to catch, kill and damage marine wildlife and habitats whilst costing fishermen. The SafeGear project has developed a tracker buoy which allows fishermen to track their gear and prevent ghost gear from entering the National Marine Park. Electronic beacons are attached to existing gear markers allowing other vessels to see the location of fishers’ nets and pots, preventing incidents that create ghost gear.
The success of the National Marine Park is dependent on the enforcement of fishery regulations. Enabling fishermen to demonstrate where they have fished is key to allowing them to demonstrate their compliance with the rules in place and avoid costly legal issues. To tackle this the programme has developed technology that tracks whether fishermen’s nets were full at different GPS points, allowing the authorities to identify where fish were caught and fishermen to prove that they are complying with regulations in the Park.
Understanding the health of our fisheries relies on the ability to collect accurate data. The SAFESTOCKS apprentice scheme is creating 12 month programmes that train graduates to collect on-board fish data and samples, promoting career development for early career professionals, greatly reducing the cost of fisheries data collection and bringing young people into an ageing fishing community. This programme holds great potential to be rolled out across the country’s fishing communities, enabling us to fill large knowledge gaps in baseline stock data for many of the UK’s commercially-fished species.
The Fishmongers’ Company works to safeguard and develop healthy marine and freshwater environments and the fisheries and aquaculture industries that depend on them. Through its Targeted Academic Sponsorship programme, the Company builds skills and capacity within these areas, filling gaps in knowledge and understanding, and providing opportunities for career development. The programme provides funding for PhD and master’s students as well as supporting paid internships in partner organisations that lack resources and internal capacity.
Recipients are also invited to join the Company’s Fisheries Alumni Network, fostering long-term collaboration among those who have received funding from The Company. Here we hear from two of our alumni, Matthew Spencer, now of the Marine Conservation Society and Alex McGoran, a PhD student with Royal Holloway University and the Natural History Museum, to find out how funding from the Company has supported their careers and their contribution to the fisheries sector.
Matthew: The crux of my internship was to increase the Environmental Defense Fund’s understanding of the UK seafood sector and identify key areas of interest through an industry report into the state of the UK seafood sector and a condensed five-page handout for those with interests in the sector.
Alex: My project focuses on the transfer of microplastics up the Thames food web. Dissections of invertebrates, fish and stranded seals will provide evidence for plastic ingestion at all levels of the food web. Thus far, the focus has been on sample collection, with trawl and sediment samples being taken and two seal necropsies performed.
Matthew: I have greatly developed personally and professionally as a result of my internship. As someone with a great deal of previous field experience, the opportunity to understand the workings of an office-type environment has been crucial. I have significantly improved my skills in organising and implementing projects and my self-confidence through chairing high-level meetings and contributing to industry-leading forums.
Alex: I have been given the opportunity to learn a large range of scientific methods including dissections and sediment cores. I have also developed my communication skills through several conferences and outreach events offered by the Natural History Museum or funded by the FCFCT. The funding has also enabled me to attend Micro2018, an international microplastics conference, and the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology annual meeting in Scotland.
Alex: The financial contributions of Fishmongers’ Company have helped me make contacts that will provide opportunities for collaboration and pathways to future jobs. The support is essential for the completion of my PhD study, and boat time would not have been affordable without Fishmongers’ contribution. By exploring the movement of microplastics through the food web and increasing my sample collection capabilities, I can develop more skills and produce a better thesis, ultimately helping me in getting a post-doc or moving into industry.
Matthew: The opportunity to intern with the Environmental Defense Fund due to the generosity of FCFCT’s Targeted Academic Sponsorship programme has given me the career I have had to date. Through their support, I was able to secure permanent employment at a globally leading environmental NGO and help break the unfortunate cycle in which many graduates find themselves: working part-time to save for voluntary experiences for career development and then returning to part time work (a garden centre and a pub in my case). Through this programme I was able to develop many of the core skills needed to progress in the environmental & fisheries sector and am now working at the Marine Stewardship Council. None of this would have been possible without the FCFCT and I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity. I hope many more will continue to benefit from such a great programme!
Working with the Welsh Government and fishing fleet, the Fishing Animateurs have developed a simplified process to enable small scale coastal fishermen in Wales to access European Maritime and Fisheries Funds to improve safety at sea and boost profitability.
The Fishing Animateurs, funded by The Fishmongers’ Company alongside Trinity House and Seafarers UK, worked throughout the winter of 2018/19 to develop a list of key items that will improve health, safety and catch quality for small scale fishermen. This has reduced the amount of application paperwork required and processing time, which before this standardisation scheme was over 12 months.
The Animateurs will now be delivering outreach work in Welsh fishing communities across the Autumn and Winter of 2019/20 to help small scale fishermen access the funding available.
The political profile of the fishing industry is at its highest since that of the “Cod Wars” in the 1970s. The increased status of fishing in the political sphere provides opportunities to develop a profitable and sustainable pathway for the inshore fishing sector, an area often overlooked in terms of political consideration, industry representation and market share.
The Future of Our Inshore Fisheries is an ambitious project aiming to transform the management of the UK’s inshore resources to ensure thriving and sustainable marine environments, inshore fisheries and coastal communities. As a member of the project’s steering group the Fishmongers’ Company works to bring together fishermen, industry leaders, research institutes, regulators and environmental groups to build consensus around key and solutions in the management of the UK’s inshore fisheries. This programme will provide evidence-based recommendations to government in order to develop effective policy and legislation to support the UK’s inshore fisheries and coastal communities.
A key focus of the projects first year is a two-day conference, providing an opportunity for fishermen and industry leaders to meet with policy makers, researchers and environmental groups to discuss solutions to current fisheries management issues. The conference, held in London on the 8th and 9th of October, will shape the road map for the future of the UK’s management of its inshore resources.
In order to ensure that fishermen are properly represented at the conference, a number of bursaries are available to cover the travelling costs for fishermen to attend. Contact holly.kaiser@seafish.co.uk
The wild Atlantic salmon is a key indicator of the health of Britain’s rivers and a key species for rural communities, generating significant revenue through angling. However, salmon numbers are undergoing a long-term decline, with Scotland recording its lowest ever salmon catch in 2018. As the species comes under increasing pressure there is an urgent need to improve understanding of the drivers behind this drop in numbers.
In response to this, the Fishmongers’ Company has partnered with key organisations in the salmon conservation field including the Atlantic Salmon Trust and Salmon and Trout Conservation to form the Missing Salmon Alliance. This represents an unprecedented partnership, utilising the co-operation between these key bodies to combine cutting-edge research with high level policy advocacy and fundraising that reflects this critical juncture for this species. The establishment of the Alliance is especially timely given that 2019 marks the International Year of the Salmon, an initiative designed to stimulate outreach and research across the Northern Hemisphere to ensure the resilience of this iconic species.
Central to the work of the Missing Salmon Alliance is the Atlantic Salmon Trust’s Moray Firth tracking project, which utilising support from the Fishmongers’ Company, will tag over 800 salmon in 2019 as they move downstream and out to sea. The project, described by Mark Bilsby, Director of the Atlantic Salmon Trust as “one of the biggest and most complex of its kind ever attempted in Europe” is tracking salmon to determine where the major losses are occurring in the first 100 km of the salmon’s journey and how we can work to stop them. The three year project spans an area representing 20% of the UK’s salmon population, deploying 358 receivers across a 30 mile array.
Significant funding will be required to meet the ambitions of this Missing Salmon Alliance and, in November this year, the Company will be hosting a landmark event at Fishmongers’ Hall, that will share the initial findings of the Moray Firth project and bring together key members and supporters of the Alliance to ensure that, as a legacy of the International Year of the Salmon, we are left with a greater sense of urgency, improved collaboration and sufficient resources to fund the impressive workstreams that are emerging from this initiative.
