Seafood Scotland has written to the chief executives of the main UK supermarkets, urging them to reopen their fresh fish counters.
With international markets closed off and the UK restaurant sector largely shut down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire sector is relying on retail for survival, but most of the fresh fish counters in major retailers have been closed for weeks.
In the letter sent to the leaders of ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, Donna Fordyce, Head of Seafood Scotland, said, “It is imperative that fish counters are reopened to allow consumers access to fresh, locally caught seafood from the domestic market as part of their essential shop.”
The Scottish seafood sector has been devastated by the impact of the coronavirus which has caused an estimated 60% drop in demand. With the export market at a standstill the sector is reliant on the domestic market with some fishing businesses moving to selling directly to the public.
“Once the lockdown was implemented many of the main multiples closed their fish counters effectively blocking a significant part of our domestic market,” continued Donna Fordyce. “We understand why this happened. However, we believe that the operational pressure has eased slightly as retailers and consumers alike become more used to working around social distancing in supermarkets.”
“It’s time for consumers to eat local, eat Scottish. The supermarkets are key to making this happen,” she added.
