The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation has played a key role in a series of snapshot mini-features for the BBC tv Landward programme profiling the Scottish fishing industry.
Presented by leading chef Nick Nairn, filming for the programme was carried out in close collaboration with Seafood Scotland, who arranged a series of interviews with industry figures to provide an informed overview of Scottish fishing.
Ian Gatt, SFF president, was chosen to take Nick Nairn through the industry and the pair visited Peterhead fish market, the fishing vessels Harvest Hope and Caspian, as well as local processors. They also cooked seafood on the vessels Quantus, Radiant Star and Ellorah, and at the Lighthouse Museum in Fraserburgh.
Ian Gatt said: “This was a great opportunity to positively profile the Scottish fishing industry and highlight our commitment to quality and sustainable fishing.
“Nick Nairn appeared genuinely surprised by the size and complexity of the pelagic fleet and was delighted to learn that the key stocks of mackerel and herring are now fully certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.
“He was also amazed at the importance of the langoustine fishery to Scotland and the number of coastal communities it helps support.”
Ian added: “Nick seemed particularly impressed at the range and quality of fish on display at Peterhead fish market and expressed real disappointment at the low prices being paid for species such as hake and megrim. The SFF believes it is essential that more is done to promote the UK home consumption of delicious fish adored by our European cousins but not yet by us. This series will hopefully play a part in getting this message across to the consumer.”
The first of the five snapshots will be shown on the new series of Landward that starts this Friday 11 September on BBC Scotland. Landward is also exploring the possibility of making several one-hour specials about different aspects of the seafood industry and talks are currently ongoing with Seafood Scotland on this.
