Major retailers have vowed to continue to work closely with the Scottish fishing industry with a view to stocking more Scottish seafood.
Representatives from Aldi, Asda, The Co-Operative, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Scottish Retail Consortium and the Scottish Grocers' Federation met with Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead this week, and voiced their support for 'catching for the market' work.
Speaking after chairing the Retailers' Forum in Edinburgh, Mr Lochhead said:
"I was delighted to hear that so many retailers are reporting strong sales of fish sourced from Scotland. It's clear that there is a real opportunity to build on existing work in terms of being more joined-up when promoting the health and cost benefits of seafood, which in turn will benefit our communities.”
The Scottish Government has commissioned a Supply Chain Review Group to help maximise the value of landings and ensure that they are co-ordinated across the whole of the fishing industry.
A good return from the market partly depends on the level of supply. High volumes landings at times of falling demand is clearly counterproductive - yet vessels facing financial pressures day in, day out, have a living to make. Ministers believe the catching sector can be better aligned with market requirements and that value added by the supply chain should benefit the primary producer - fishermen.
