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A FORMER top-earning Grimsby trawler skipper has launched a new seafood restaurant venture which, it is hoped, will lead to a chain being established across the country.
John Hancock is currently managing director of Carisma UK, the British arm of Norway based Carisma Fish AS, which moved into Grimsby last July. Carisma UK provides direct contact from fishing boat to customer which already includes some of London's leading hotels and TV chef Mitch Tonks. In the first full year of operation it is expected to bring in Norwegian fish worth around £6 million.
Now some of that fish will be served to diners at The Captain's Table, which John has just opened in Grimsby's neighbouring seaside resort of Cleethorpes and has become the first restaurant on the Humber to sell only Marine Stewardship Council certified fish and most of it line caught at that.
He said: "Carisma intends to roll out Captain’s Table restaurants in other parts of the country in due course because it will mean another outlet for their fish. They also want the people of the UK to enjoy what they consider to be some of the best seafood around. Cleethorpes is the first which is why we are determined to make it a great success."
He also believes that recent TV programmes like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight series had given the wrong impression about the fishing industry
“Norway has a cod and haddock quota totalling 750,000 tons, the biggest in its history and its stock is perfectly managed. Less than five per cent of our fish comes from the North Sea."
He added: “We at the Captain’s Table have demonstrated the company’s commitment to both the port of Grimsby and the fish stocks of the Barents Sea."
The actual Cleethorpes Captain's Table restaurant will be half shared between Carisma UK and John's daughter and son-in-law Sarah and John Waites.
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