The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) is calling for all sectors of the seafood industry to work together to develop strategies to help stimulate demand for home caught product, as poor market prices for fish are having a severe impact on the Scottish fleet.
The fall in prices for Scottish caught fish has also been affected by a global recession and the subsequent effect on the export trade, combined with increased quantities of fish from across northern Europe because of recovering stocks, as well as fish imports from Asia and other parts of the world.
The SFF says it is essential that fishermen, fish producers, processors, government, retailers, food service companies and other relevant agencies, come together to develop a joint ‘from net to plate’ strategy across all sectors of the supply chain to stimulate demand, focusing on origin and quality of Scottish caught seafood.
Bertie Armstrong, chief executive, SFF, said: “At a time when the mass-produced food sector is under huge public scrutiny because of the horse meat scandal, we should be shouting from the rooftops about the quality of Scottish seafood and the short supply chain it takes to reach the plates of consumers.”
He added: “The quality of Scottish seafood has a fantastic reputation both on the domestic and international markets and we need to capitalise upon this as much as we can. Our seafood is sustainably caught, tastes great and is one of the healthiest food products to eat there is.”
