MCB Seafoods works as a team to bring you the best quality and now sustainably certified seafood. The team includes not only all of our in-house staff but the fishers as well who go out every day to ensure there is delicious, fresh, wholesome food available for your table.
Over 20 boats land directly to us, coming from Portsmouth, Littlehampton, Brighton, Newhaven, Eastbourne, Hastings, and Ramsgate. All fishing is done from boats under 10 meters in length which is why they provide the freshest, highest quality fish.
We are proud to stand by and work with these fishers, especially when they are so committed to leading progressive change within the industry. Many already implement new and innovative ways of reducing the impact of fishing on the marine environment, such as the use of 120mm mesh sizes when the minimum is set much lower at 90mm. This means the fishers won't catch as much fish but they know that it will yield fish of higher value, it is better for the stocks and so will help them to preserve their way of life for generations to come.
It is a great acknowledgment of the hard work all of our fishers put in that we have just received the UK's first sustainable fisheries certification of its kind. This has led to even more ambitious plans to reduce ghost fishing (derelict fishing gear that continues to fish long after it has been lost) and general waste at sea.
OUR FISHERMEN
INDUSTRY CHAMPIONS
Meet The Fisherman
Ben (above right) is one of our local fishermen, landing the catch from his boat (the Catharine Ann - above) here in Newhaven harbour. He is pictured above with our sustainability auditor Marco Pedol from Friend of The Sea. Ben's efforts to work in a conscientious manner make him a great example of how many within the industry work hard to produce only be highest quality fish with the least environmental impact. This can be seen, for example, in the use of nets where mesh sizes are above the legal minimum. Ben won't catch as much this way but the fish are more marketable and his discards will be negligible.
He was also the first within our fleet to sign a voluntary agreement to maintain best environmental practice. This includes the tagging of ALL nets used to help mitigate the problems associated with ghost fishing and a commitment to use nontoxic alternatives to traditional cleaning chemicals.
This commitment will soon be signed by all of our local vessels, demonstrating industry led, progressive and environmentally minded change within the sector. When you buy from MCB you are helping drive changes such as these and rewarding the hard work of fishers like Ben.
