Businesses whose livelihoods depend on fishermen returning safely to port have rallied behind a new fishing safety campaign, calling for personal safety at sea to be treated as a shared responsibility across the seafood industry.
Launched this month by the Home and Dry Fishing Safety Forum, the campaign brings together voices from across coastal communities — including a fishmonger, chandler, seafood restaurant owners and a training provider — to highlight the far-reaching economic and social impact of fishing.
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Among those supporting the initiative are Rick and Katie Toogood, owners of award-winning seafood restaurant Prawn on the Lawn in London and Padstow. Their business relies heavily on local catch.
“If we didn’t have local fishermen, we wouldn’t have a restaurant,” said Katie Toogood. “Eighty per cent of what we have on the menu is local and it changes all through the day, sometimes six or seven times, based on serving the freshest possible fish.
“Our ethos is, if the weather isn’t good enough for fishermen to go out, we probably shouldn’t have it on our menu.”
Master fishmonger Elaine Lorys of W Stevenson & Sons in Newlyn said the ripple effect of fishing extends well beyond the harbour. “There’s such a wide range of people that are relying on fishermen to land their catch,” she said. “We employ six people here just at the shop. There is a lot relying on the fishermen coming in from sea with the catches that they do.”
Neil McAleese, head of industry workforce issues at Seafish, which co-ordinates Home and Dry, said every job at sea supports many more on land. “From restaurants and shops to boatyards and harbours, fishermen sustain communities, industries and livelihoods,” he said. “Encouraging safety at sea is a shared responsibility.”
Throughout February, the campaign will share safety guidance and stories across social media, urging industry-wide support for zero preventable deaths at sea.
