Fresh fish is what fishes is about, especially wild sustainable fish. Apart from being able to source the selection of fish that are certified through MSC we also have a large network of sustainable fisheries throughout the world. What ever your requirements fishes can source for you, from Australia Barramundi to English Dover Sole.

The season for the Dover sole starts around March after the spring migration in February. The sole come in from the deep water where the water has kept at a constant temperature through the very cold months and now they start to roe up. Although the fishing continues through the spawning period the fisherman move to a larger gage net (125mm) to avoid catching the smaller fish and concentrate on the larger fish who have spawned a minimum of twice before. It is important to realise that the sole realise their eggs not on the bottom where the nets are but in the water column up high in the middle of the water depth. April is the month where the sole are heavily roed and predominately you will only see larger fish over 250grm being landed. This is the period that a lot of restaurants use fillets to avoid serving fish with to much roe.

By the middle of May the sole have fully spawned an unlike plaice the fish still have good body weight and not to thin due to a smaller reproduction sack. The fisherman now drop down to a smaller gage (100mm) and you start to really see the first run of fish, the first run is predominately the two bottom grades. Come June you will see large volumes of sole being landed day in, day out.

Depending on weather this consistency runs up until the end of September when the fisherman change gage sizes again to the larger net (125mm) to avoid whiting. Come October you start to see a drop in the smaller sole and the average size is around 220grm. Although the season should be slowing down coming to the end of November in 2006 the fisherman landed some of their best catches. With the waters staying warming the fishing can run right up till the end of December.

In regards to winds in spring the best winds are South West but the worst winds are North East. Although the boats can normally get off shore unless fishing in close proximity to the land the sea becomes to choppy to fish. In summer the best time to fish is on still days and when you have a run of good weather the landings are massive. Please remember that since the boats are beach launched if the winds are blowing over force five either South East or Southerly then the boats have no chance to get off shore.

There are five species of wild Alaska Salmon: Sockeye, King or Chinook, Coho, Chum, and Pink. Alaska Salmon are anadromous, meaning they grow in the ocean, and spawn in the rivers. Salmon spawn only once in there lives.

Salmon return to their natural stream to spawn, passing through water, on their way to the upriver spawning grounds. Alaska’s Fishery managers take advantage of the anadromous behaviour of salmon. They observe and count the fish, as ensure that sufficient numbers of adult spawners escape the fishery, and swim up the rivers to spawn. Salmon also school tightly, and do not mix very much with other species of fishes. This means that commercial salmon fishing has virtually no incidental catch, or by catch, of non-salmon fishes.

Every aspect of Alaska’s salmon fisheries is strictly regulated, closely monitored, and rigidly enforced. The state of Alaska’s statutes and regulations control such factors as: Fishing areas, fishing licenses and fishing gear.

The availability of salmon depends on the species. King salmon is available from half May till Half September and from Half October till half April. The Sockeye from Half May till Half September. The Coho from July till the end of September. The Chum from June till October and the Pink in July and August.

This English Seabass will be fully certified by the end of the month ready for the winter season to open. With the anticipation of this certification has led to a lot of opposition from the local anglers and one angler has even spent 7 hours in the local police lock up after cutting the fisherman’s nets.

With that aside there will be 5 licenses issued for this winter season ( October 15th till April 30th). This season will be followed by the sea trout season starting from April 1st till the end of August. September is when the trout heed back into the rivers to spawn so there is a total fishing ban in this region. The licenses allow the fisherman to shoot static gill nets (90mm) off the beach. Seabass nets are kept straight unlike the trout nets due to the low visibility in the water and checked twice a day on low tide. No boats are used in this method of fishing.

The seabass spawn on water temperature (8.5 to 9 degrees) from April till June but unlike other fish they hold onto the eggs and lay them slowly, maybe dropping eggs in four different locations. There is still fishing through the spawning season although the fish are a little thinner. Nobody really knows where they go to spawn, all that is known is that they come into the North Sea from the Thames river. In the summer period the net gage goes up to 100mm to fit in with the trout regulations.

The ultimate time to buy the Seabass is from the start of October till the end of the December when the fish have a lot of fat in the bellies after the summer.

Halibut spawn at depths of 600 to 1,500 feet from November through March. Female halibut release anywhere from a few thousand to 4 million eggs, depending on the size of the fish. About 15 days later, the eggs hatch and the larvae drift with deep ocean currents. In the Gulf of Alaska, the eggs and larvae drift in a counter clockwise direction along the coast. January and February are close to impossible for me to purchase Halibut.

As the larvae mature, they move higher in the water column and ride the surface currents to shallower, more nourishing coastal waters. Although age at maturity varies over time, about half of male halibut are sexually mature by 8 years of age, while half of the females are mature by age 11. The larvae start life in an upright position like other fish, with an eye on each side of the head. When the larvae are about one inch long, the left eye moves over the snout to the right side of the head. At the same time, the coloration on the left side of the body fades. The halibut end up with both eyes on the pigmented (olive to dark brown) upper side of their body, while their underside is white. By the time they are six months old young halibut settle to the bottom in shallow, near shore areas.

Halibut feed on plankton during their first year of life. Young halibut (1-3 years old) feed on euphaulsids (small shrimp-like organisms) and small fish. As halibut grow, fish make up a larger part of their diet. Besides Pollock, sablefish, cod, and rockfish, large halibut also eat octopus, herring, crabs, clams, and smaller halibut. Halibut are the largest of all the flatfishes. Some halibut exceed 400 pounds, including the 459 pound state record fish caught during 1996 in Unalaska Bay.

Female halibut grow faster and are typically larger than males of the same age. Most halibut taken in the sport fishery are 5-15 years old. Males rarely reach 100 pounds. Halibut can be found throughout most of the marine waters of Alaska - as far north as Nome, along the Aleutian Chain, and throughout the waters of the south-eastern Alaska panhandle. Halibut can also be found along the continental shelf as far south as southern California, as well as along the coasts of Japan and Russia.

Halibut are usually on or near the bottom over mud, sand, or gravel banks. Most are caught at depths of 90 to 900 feet, but halibut have been recorded at depths up to 3,600 feet. As halibut mature, they migrate in a clockwise direction in the Gulf of Alaska, countering the drift of eggs and larvae. Halibut tagged in the Bering Sea have been caught as far south as the coast of Oregon, a migration of over 2,000 miles.

Halibut also move seasonally between shallow waters and deep waters. Mature fish move to deeper offshore areas in the fall to spawn, and return to nearshore feeding areas in early summer. It's not yet clear if fish return to the same areas to spawn or feed year after year.
Since 1923, both the sport and the commercial halibut fisheries have been managed under a treaty between Canada and the United States.

The treaty established the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), which is charged with the conservation of halibut. The IPHC conducts research and sets the allowable catches for each of ten regulatory areas from Oregon to Alaska.

The NPFMC is one of eight regional councils established by Congress in 1976 to oversee management of the nation's fisheries. The Council has eleven voting members, six from Alaska, three from Washington, one from Oregon, and a federal representative, the Alaska Regional Director of NMFS. The Council's office is in Anchorage, Alaska. Once the IPHC has set the allowable halibut catches for each area, it is up to the Council to portion out the harvest between sport, commercial and subsistence users who fish U.S. waters. The Council can also set daily bag and possession limits for halibut in U.S. waters.

The season for Mackerel is not as complicated as Dover Sole and basically you have two main runs, the summer run and the winter run. The winter run is from December till March with a good consistency of medium size Mackerel being caught. Please remember that the volumes are dictated even more by the weather than the Dover Sole since they are fishing off 16 foot open boats which are very vulnerable to the elements. South Westerly is the worst possible direction for the winds to blow.

In April the Mackerel go out to deeper water to spawn where the small boats cannot reach. The spawning period last around a month and then they migrate back in for the summer run. The summer run starts in May and really peaks in August and September although 2007 was a very odd year with poor catches. The fleet which is close to 150 boats is made of a mix of full time and part time fisherman. You will find that when the weather is good then the market can nearly become saturated due to all the part time fisherman making the most of the perfect conditions. The good thing for the consumer is that they will see it in reflection to price. The summer run is a good mix between medium and large Mackerel.

Come the to the end of October will see the end of the summer run and through November you will see a lot of small Mackerel and also a lot of in consistencies when it comes to volumes.

With both fisheries the methods are different, the Mackerel being caught with hand lines and in Hastings they are using static nets to catch the Dover sole but one thing is the same, the drive to be as sustainable as possible. Although at times it becomes difficult to sometimes forecast volumes or predict when the fishing will commence again due to bad weather, I guess one positive point is that is what helps these fisheries stay sustainable.

MSC South African Hake –
The South African Cape hake fishery began being intensively harvested after World War II and built up to a maximum harvest in the early 1970s of 300 000 tonnes. The fishery then went into decline, which prompted the implementation of a larger gage size (110mm) for nets. This, together with South Africa's declaration of a 200 nautical mile fishing zone in  1977, led to a gradual recovery in catch rates. Since then the fishery has been controlled largely by means of company allocated quotas within a conservative TAC, limitations on the number of vessels, and certain closed areas.
Trawling is divided between the deep-water trawl fishery taking the majority of the TAC and an inshore trawl fishery. With Deep water trawling they trawl between 300 to 700 metres below the service to target hake, which characteristically inhabits these deep sea levels. The normal catch rate per trawl is about 9 tonnes, preferably achieved within a period of two hours to prevent bruising and ensure best quality and freshness. In the winter months the fish are in the cold waters off the west coast and in the summer off the east coast. Fishing for hake is all year round and spawning is dictated prodimately by water temperature.
The deep sea fleet consists of about 25 wetfish vessels (fish are laid on ice) and 36 factory vessels (with freezers and processing capabilities). In comparison in the inshore fishery there are 35 small trawlers with an average length of 23m. The freezer vessels have an average crew size of about 46, whereas the average size of the crew on the wetfish vessels is 25. Typically wetfish vessels remain out of port for 6 days (driven by the demand for high quality fresh fish), whereas freezer vessels remain out for two months. wetfish vessels typically land 50 tons whereas freezer vessels process fillets on board, typically processing a catch of 500 tons in 40 days. Fillet size is 150 – 270grams, skin on.