Revealed at the Newlyn Fish Festival several years ago, insulated
plastic fish tubs used to bathe fish in "slush ice" have become vital
tools for the Westcountry's inshore fishing industry.Pushing the
quality level of fish even higher is not just a good idea, according to
fish merchants - it is essential as fish exporters, fishmongers and
supermarkets now demand excellence.
At
first, insulated tubs were introduced regionally in Cornwall to store
handline-caught mackerel, as during summer months lowering the
temperature of the fish just seconds after capture was the only way to
retain high prices.
The tubs proved successful as merchants may, at times, pay more than £2/kg for large summer mackerel stored in them.
At
the annual meeting of the South West Handline Fishermen's Association
(SWHFA) - which was held at Mevagissey Social Club last week - the
chairman, mackerel handline fisherman David Bond, countered criticism
of insulated tubs by saying that the use of bins was the only way
forward.
A few years ago, SWHFA applied to the Marine
Stewardship Council (MSC) for accreditation on mackerel caught by
members, who quickly realised how the use of insulated tubs carrying
slush ice - a mixture of flaked ice and seawater - was the best way to
keep the certification.
"It isn't cheap," the members were told last week, since MSC accreditation must be renewed every five years.
"A
fair cost faces us, and we are just a small association, but one whose
step into the quality race has made handline-caught mackerel a product
of note all over the UK and beyond," said SWHFA secretary David
Muirhead.
Graham Witherington, of GW Containers in
Staffordshire, acting as UK agents for the tubs manufactured by
Icelandic firm Saeplast Containers, said: "Called insulated bins, tubs,
skips or containers, over 700 have been sold so far, with SWHFA,
Seafood Cornwall and the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation (CFPO)
being serious buyers."
He said the tubs were made from
double-walled polyethylene plastic, in-filled with polyurethane foam,
and came in sizes of 70 litres up to 1,000 litres capacity.
Favourites were the 70-litre and 100-litre sizes for small mackerel boats and 220 litres for bigger inshore boats.
"Demand is increasing steadily," Mr Witherington added.
"At
first we introduced insulated fish tubs via Seafish trials at ports
like Scarborough and Whitby, and although the Seafish technical staff
who took part were really enthusiastic about pushing up the quality of
fish, response from the North East fishermen wasn't what we had hoped
for.
"We then sent a couple of tubs to fishermen in Guernsey, a hotter climate altogether - and they were delighted.
"Soon
after, Seafood Cornwall, SWHFA, and members of the CFPO saw the value
of using insulated bins, and thereafter those organisations placed
large orders.
"Many sold through an Objective One grant scheme, but sadly that scheme is not available in most other places of the UK.
"Now,
many fishermen in Scotland also want to try insulated tubs, and we have
just taken quite a large order from the organisation Seafood Scotland,
mainly for tubs of 220, 310 and 380-litre capacity."
A Guernsey
skipper, unable to land his catch of pollack for six days, revealed the
plus points of keeping the fish in insulated tubs carrying slush ice.
"On
putting the fish ashore he asked the buyer how old he thought that the
fish were and the buyer replied by saying 'obviously those fish were
caught yesterday'," Mr Witherington reported.
The tubs are simple, rugged boxes with thick bases made to drag over decks and/or fish market floors.
Each
has two O-ring sealed drain ports at the base and four strong elastic
straps, which are cheap and easy to replace, that secure the
double-walled/foam-filled top cover.
When ordering, skippers ask
for the name and number of their vessel to be inscribed on both the
tub's walls and top cover to prevent theft.
article copyright Phil Lockley for WESTERN MORNING NEWS