Suffolk and Essex fish industry revitalised by selling at Brixham

Fishermen on the Suffolk and Essex coast have begun selling their catches to a market 350 miles away and said the move has been "a game changer".

Brixham market in Devon now regularly collects fish from the east coast and sells it through its online auction.

Those involved said it revitalised the fortunes of an industry whose expansion hopes were dashed after Brexit.

But critics fear its success will make it harder for Lowestoft to set up its own fishing hub.

Three times a week a lorry from the Brixham Fish Market visits a refrigerated lock-up at Southwold harbour in Suffolk.

Inside are the catches of up to 25 local fishermen who have started to sell Dover sole, sea bass and herring to the Devon market.

"It's been a game changer for all of us," said Fran French from Mersea Fishermen's Association on the Essex coast.

"It's more than doubled our income - which is huge, because we haven't been able to sell for great sums of money over the last few years .

"This has made the future a little more promising."

Mike Free has moved his boat from Wivenhoe, Essex, up the coast to Southwold in Suffolk to be closer to the town's lock-up.

"Since Brexit we've gained a lot more quota, so I can catch a lot more Dover sole now," he said.

"The problem was trying to market it, which we tried to do locally, but it still wasn't enough to run the business on.

"Then we had a meeting with Brixham - they have buyers all over Europe and we are able to get our fish to market within two days of it being caught."

Brixham is now the country's largest fish market with 130 buyers on its books. Last year its sales increased by 50% helped by its decision to collect fish from lock-ups dotted around the English and Welsh coast.

"It's great for us and it's great for fishermen on the east coast," said managing director Barry Young.

"They're saying to me that they're now able to re-invest in their boat, whereas before they were probably unable to - they are really happy that they can see a future now."

His market, which was already well-established, took advantage of post-Brexit government grants to expand its operation and it has plans to grow further.

"After Brexit, fishermen were very downhearted and thought that was the end of their industry, but now we're picking up a bit - we're a bit more positive and we hope that's passing along to everybody along the coast, " Mr Young added.

But where does this leave the dream of expanding the fishing industry along the east coast?

The fishing community in Lowestoft, Suffolk, had high hopes of expanding the local fish market and becoming a fishing hub for the east of England after Brexit.

But Conservative Waveney MP Peter Aldous says it has been hard to get grants while an application for money to set up an online auction, similar to Brixham's, was unsuccessful.

"Brixham have had the people and resources to put together compelling bids, but we've had our infrastructure eroded over the years - we haven't got the resources and capability to do that," he said.

He pointed out that while trawlers still land fish at Brixham, the organisation that used to be based in Lowestoft now sends its trawlers to the Netherlands.

"Brexit was meant to be a new beginning for the local fishing industry and this isn't a very good start, the government needs to have a strategy for rebuilding a national fishing industry with regional ports around the country."

In West Mersea Ms French agreed: "We already have a hub here in the east, it just needs to be updated and if it were, we wouldn't have the food miles sending our fish to Devon."

The local council and those behind the Lowestoft fish market continue to press for funding and Mr Aldous believes there is a still a chance of succeeding.

Some fear if Brixham gets much bigger the challenge of setting up a proper hub in the east will become harder.

But for now the Devon connection has given many local fishermen a boost and, they hope, the chance of a much brighter future.

A spokesman for DEFRA said: "The Government is committed to supporting fishing communities and has already awarded £11m to projects in the east of England that will improve infrastructure, training and support innovation."

BBC Politics East will broadcast on Sunday, 16 July at 10:00 BST on BBC One and be available after broadcast on BBC iPlayer.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830