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GRIMSBY Fish market has re-opened robustly after the long Christmas and New Year break.
With around 1,800 boxes on sale yesterday, demand for fresh fish was high and so were the prices. Large cod was selling at £4.30 a kilo, large haddock at around £4 a kilo and large plaice at over £4.50 a kilo -prices not seen for some time. Demand for fish is usually strong after the Christmas holiday, partly because the public like to get back to plain eating after all the rich food associated with the festive season.
But with just less than 800 boxes expected today, mostly haddock, the high demand and high prices are expected to continue. Supplies have been restricted because the Icelandic trawler fleet, Grimsby’s main supply source, is only just getting back to sea after the holiday, and those ships which have managed to start fishing have been affected by bad weather.
This is also the first Christmas that the Humber has operated with just one fish market with Hull’s Fishgate closing down last summer. The Grimsby market has just completed a £1.5-million modernisation and refurbishment project which has seen the introduction of chilling facilities.
Steve Norton, chief executive of the Grimsby Fish merchants association said: “We have come back after the break to an exceptionally strong market and the hope is that this bodes well for the future. We could have done with more fish yesterday, but the weather around Iceland is having an effect.
He added: “The good news is that the modernisation is now almost complete and we hope the new facilities will help to attract additional supplies. The trade is looking forward to a better year in 2012.
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