Editor’s note: The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Dr. Paul Williams, CEO of Seafish (the Sea Fish Industry Authority). It’s in response to a letter to the editor from Chris Holmes, managing director of London-based seafood importer Holmes Seafood, questioning Seafish’s levy on seafood imports. On 15 June, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court sided with Seafish in a case involving uncollected duties.
I was disappointed to read Chris Holmes’ letter on 24 June questioning the relevance and productivity of Seafish.
It is one of our primary concerns that all levy payers get value from Seafish. Even though the legal process of the last 18 months has impacted us considerably — and inevitably curtailed some activities — we have calculated that we generated GBP 4 million of value to industry over the last year on an income of just GBP 2 million.
The activities which underpin this are real and substantial, closely targeted to support the long term success of individual sectors of UK seafood — from fishermen, importers and processors to supermarkets, fishmongers, restaurants and fish and chip shops. There’s plenty more detail on our website, but a few key results are:
• providing safety training for 4,790 fishermen;
• a total of over 600 vessels registered for the Responsible Fishing Scheme;
• answering nearly 2,000 information enquiries from industry and consumers;
• running the biggest and most successful National Fish & Chip Awards ever;
• developing, enhancing and promoting sustainable sourcing practice through our industry discussion groups such as Common Language and Discards Action Groups;
• Standing up for UK fish and seafood in the media and influencing the content of the Channel 4’s Fish Fight campaign;
• Providing research, insight and legislative guidance to help seafood businesses make better business decisions.
I must say I don’t recognize the reference to a new “multi-million pound headquarters.” In point of fact, we have been in the same office in Edinburgh since 1992 and moved our Hull team to more cost-effective rented offices in Grimsby in 2008. We are now a lean organization, with just 54 staff.
So in answer to Mr Holmes’ question, “What do we get with Seafish?” I would say a £4 million return on £2 million investment isn’t bad considering the difficult circumstances we were dealing with.
We’re not complacent, we know we need to give value and we’re entering a new process of consultation and review to make the levy work even harder for industry going forward. I will be in touch with Chris Holmes this week to invite him to join that conversation. I’m confident that once he engages with us we will be able to prove how Seafish can provide real value to his own business.
Dr. Paul Williams, CEO, Seafish
