Herring from Hastings narrowly beat Norwegian cod to take top honors in the 4th annual Billingsgate School Sustainable Fish & Shellfish Awards, held 21 November at London’s Billingsgate Fish Market.
Both products are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), but the catch volumes are poles apart. Whereas the Barents Sea cod total allowable catch (TAC) that will be shared by Norway and Russia next year is 1 million metric tons (MT), the Hastings fishery will catch no more than 10 MT of herring and mackerel.
Fishing takes place in the Eastern English Channel, specifically between Beachy Head and Dungeness, and offshore to the six-mile limit. It is undertaken by boats of under 10 meters in length that are launched from the beach.
Yasmin Ornsby, who presented the case for Hastings herring on behalf of the Hastings Fishermen’s Protection Society (HFPS), which was formed in 1836, said the small fishing fleet would be delighted with the award.
“We are a very small fishery with a very big heart,” said Ornsby. “You have to appreciate we are an artisanal fishery and supply is a huge problem for us. So while we are sustainable, environmentally-friendly and we’ve fished in the same way for hundreds of years, we can’t supply huge amounts of fish if we can’t get off the beach.”
Another problem for the Hastings fishermen is the popularity of herring has waned over the last four decades, despite many efforts by the HFPS to boost the consumer profile of the fish.
“In the 1970s there was an abundance of herring; we grew rich on herring in Hastings,” said Ornsby. But in 1977 there was a ban introduced on fishing for herring in the North Sea. This ban lasted five years, during which time “we lost our taste for it,” she said.
“We’re a small fleet and we have had to adapt to survive, which is why we chose to go through MSC. And this year, we’ve just gone through MSC for the third time.”
In scooping the Billingsgate School’s 2012 award, the herring also fended off stiff competition from king scallops, British Tilapia, Alaska salmon and Anglesey Sea Bass.
Each year the award is given to the product that secures the most votes from the event’s attendees, including retail buyers, foodservice suppliers, chefs and NGOs.
