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TRADITIONAL Holy Week fish landings on the Humber were among the worst on record this year.
Grimsby received around 1,300 boxes and Hull's Fishgate less than 1,000 boxes on Monday. A year ago both markets were handling almost three times this amount. The situation today is no better with Grimsby likely to only receive 850 boxes and Hull just over 500 boxes. However, the quality of the fish on display was good and prices for cod and haddock were high.
The week running up to Easter has always been regarded as the fishing industry's harvest festival when demand for fresh fish shoots up and trawlers make sure they try to get back to port in time to get the best possible price for their catches.
Although Easter may have lost some of its religious significance in recent times, the age old practice of more people buying fish at this time of year continues. Fish counters around the country are always very busy during Holy Week. One of the problems has been bad weather around Iceland which has seriously affected fishing activity. Many of the trawlers were unable to make it back to port to rendezvous with the regular ferry service to the Humber.
Steve Norton, chief executive of the Grimsby Fish Merchants Association, said that while he appreciated there were problems with the weather, the supply situation for what was once regarded as the most important week of the year was nonetheless disappointing.
"The supermarkets and fish shops say that people still want to buy fish at Easter. I hope that following the management buyout at Atlantic Fresh, which is our main Icelandic importer into the Humber, will eventually lead to an improvement in the supply situation."
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