WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT 1

First, we are 100% committed to freezing. All fishmongers depend on frozen fish for at least part of their range - otherwise they would have no shrimp. And when fresh fish is scarce, they can offer frozen fish as an alternative. But we believe that unless you are buying fresh fish at the port to eat today or tomorrow, frozen is usually superior - as long as the frozen fish is of the highest quality. Remote fish delivery is an expensive business. You need fast delivery and sophisticated packaging - so it's absolutely useless to ship anything other than high quality fish.

It's much better to buy frozen fish super-fast from a commercial factory, then expertly labeled and packaged, and delivered to you still frozen - than to buy fresh fish and freeze it slowly in your home freezer.

WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT 2

Of course, we are also committed to quality. If our fish didn't surpass supermarket quality, we wouldn't have business. Quality is not just about freshness. It's also about cutting and trimming. We will sell you a whole filet if that's what you want, but most of our customers are looking for the main part of the filet - what we call a fillet steak. They don't want too small a Dover sole to satisfy. They don't want substandard crab meat - they want claw meat. Over nearly 25 years, we've discovered exactly what our most demanding customers want and that's what we offer them.

And we are service-oriented. It's difficult to convey the full meaning of what we consider a good service, but it boils down to:

'Go further'

and

'Do as you would like it to be done'.

We try to pay the same attention to detail that we apply to the fish cuts and delivery process in every aspect of our customer relationship.

WHY WE ARE DIFFERENT 3

We donate 1% of sales or 5% of profits - whichever is greater - to marine sustainability.

We believe this promise is unique among seafood companies.

OUR WARRANTY

Our fish and our general service aim to meet the highest standards.

If you are not satisfied, we guarantee to resolve the situation quickly.

SUSTAINABILITY

We are often asked “Which of your fish are sustainable?” We wish it was that simple.

MINUS 99%

A hundred years of overfishing - intensified over the last 40 years by technology and globalisation - has reduced the stocks of many species of fish to critically low levels – in some cases by 99%.

Astonishingly, there is still meaningful scope for a serious recovery. Fish are fantastically prolific - mature female fish produce tens of thousands and often millions of eggs every year. By 1970, Pacific salmon was threatened by overfishing. But careful nurturing of salmon eggs ever since has enabled the catch subsequently to double.

MAINLY FARMED

Today, most of the fish mankind eats is farmed. This takes some pressure off wild stocks, yet fish farming sometimes seems no less of a threat than overfishing: Scottish lochs full of waste, mangrove swamps cleared for prawn farming, farmed hybrids escaping to mix genes with wild stocks. The good news, as fish farming has become the dominant source of seafood, farmers are getting cleaner and smarter.

COMPLICATED

Fish is a complex global industry. Our fish may pass through six intermediaries before it reaches us. We might routinely buy the same item from three suppliers each with its own supply chain. We’re a small business with a wide range. We don’t believe any company retailing a range of fish could claim to be 100% sustainable.

It is not very comfortable to be honest with you about the challenges presented by sustainability.

SLOW RECOVERY

And yet, there are some positives. Overfishing began to be addressed 60 years ago when Iceland declared a 200-mile limit, expelled our trawlers and restricted its own. In the nick of time, and by a two steps forward one step backward process, politicians and fishermen are getting to grips with overfishing. Even China - probably the biggest plunderer of fish stocks – has officially acknowledged that the game is up.

REVIEWING OURSELVES

Starting from spring 2021, we are reviewing all our lines of fish with a view to improving our own sustainability rating. Doing this properly is a big job and we have given ourselves 12 months to complete it. As each product is reviewed, we’ll put our findings on its product page. Arising from this process, as of June 2021 we decided to discontinue sales of freshwater eel (including smoked eel). Our eel products will be delisted when current stocks are sold.

OUR PLEDGE

In January we pledged to donate five per cent of our profits to marine sustainability. Recent recipients of donations include:

The National Lobster Hatchery

Blue Marine Foundation