seafood – Licensed & Catering News (LCN) – News Coverage from the Local Trade

Owner of storm-hit restaurant vows to get back to business

Joe Kearney — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 11:38:25 +0000

The owner of a restaurant on Portstewart’s seafront left flooded after storm Franklin hit has pledged to get back to serving food as soon as possible.

Native Seafood and Scran boss Stevie McCarry arrived at work on Monday morning to find the water was 6ft deep at the venue he opened along with his wife Rebecca during the first coronavirus lockdown.

Writing on Facebook on Tuesday, February 22, he said: “We are sorting through all the equipment today to see what’s salvageable but yesterday we managed to save the fish in our fish fridge we keep in the back which is air right.

“Once the electricity switched off, this particular fridge has a fail safe that keeps temperature for a few hours. We managed to get everything out in time and moved across to another fridge off site.

“We don’t want this to go to waste so if anyone wants any cod, hake, haddock, oysters or mussels give us a shout or order on our website.

“Blown away by everyone’s messages of support. We can’t thank you enough, it’s got us through what has been the hardest day in Native ever..

“A massive thank you so far to any passers by who chipped in to give us a hand, @al_mennie , @warkesdeli , @ursaminorbakehouse @shantyportrush @craigdallaselectrical @communityrescue @alexandrabrownlow

..for the offers of goodwill or help on site and to the 2absolute legends who purchased items on our website without wanting anything in return

“The sense of community has been unbelievable and we’ll never forget it. Predicting a big native sesh when we get back up and running whenever that will be “

Stevie and his wife Rebecca, above, started the business during the first coronavirus lockdown and it and proved an immediate hit with locals and visitors alike.

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More net gains for Sea Source collective

Joe Kearney — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 11:46:11 +0000

A number of Co Down trawler owners have joined forces and taken to the road to offer families greater access to fresh fish and shellfish.

Sea Source, which represents dozens of Northern Ireland fishing families set up a purpose-built mobile kitchen at the pre-Christmas Dicken’s Day in Kilkeel on December 4 to showcase their wares and there are now pans to make it a regular feature at food markets and other outdoor events.

The mobile kitchen featured snacks including scampi, haddock goujons and chowder and Sea Source has also recently expanded its popular shop in the coastal town as well as developing its delivery services across Northern Ireland.

Sea Source seafood, which is already supplied to Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy and the Far East, will now be more widely available at home.

Marketing manager Kathryn Graham said: “Our first street food van is an immensely exciting initiative for us, providing opportunities to enable more people here to enjoy fish and seafood snacks from the trawlers that are cooked freshly in a well-equipped kitchen manned by experienced staff and operating to the highest hygiene standards.

“It’s a hugely important investment for us which is designed to increase awareness among families here of the health and nutritional benefits of fresh fish and seafood direct from local trawlers and also to enhance returns to the fishermen.

“Our new shop in Kilkeel’s Newcastle Street, furthermore, represents a significant expansion in the first shop we opened in the town a few years ago for locally landed seafood. This proved such a popular venture for the company that we simply had to find much bigger premises to develop services to consumers.”

From its base at Kilkeel Harbour, Sea Source, headed by seafood specialist Alan McCulla, the experienced chief executive, also operates successfully its own fish selling division, a processing arm and an offshore energy services compan

It’s now a key player in the local fishing industry which has annual sales of around £80 million, more than three-quarters of which are to customers outside Northern Ireland.

As well as Kilkeel, Sea Source members are based in the smaller fishing ports of Annalong, Ardglass and Portavogie along the spectacular coastline, with Sea Source members harvesting top quality fish and seafood from the waters around the UK and Ireland.

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Cut down on cod and salmon, urges MCS

Joe Kearney — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 12:06:15 +0000

Consumers are being advised to eat more herring, plaice and hake and to cut down on North Sea cod and Atlantic salmon.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) makes the suggestion in the latest edition of its 2019 Good Fish Guide – out this week.

The Society’s advice will be seen as a fresh attempt to ease the pressure on stocks of at-risk fish species in waters around the British Isles.

Here in Northern Ireland, the wild Atlantic salmon has strong cultural and economic significance – represented by the ‘Big Fish’ sculpture in Belfast – and legislation has been introduced to help halt its decline, particularly in the fresh water environment.

These measures are showing signs of improving the runs of fish back to our rivers, says the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, but Atlantic salmon are still in a perilous state in both their marine and freshwater environments due to both environmental change and human activities.

In England and Wales, there are now no rivers in which stocks of salmon are meeting conservation targets and in Scotland, just 28 per cent of rivers are doing so.

Caterers and consumers are now being advised to seek stock of UK organic farmed salmon or fish from Scottish grade one rivers.

As for cod, there had been some encouraging growth in recent years, but stocks declined again last year and the chip shop favourite had its red rating reinstated. Seabass, however, is now off that list following a recovery in stock levels.

At the end of September, the Marine Stewardship Council removed its ‘blue tick’ certification for North Sea cod, sparking fears that it may eventually become harder to source the fish in the UK.

Those determined to serve cod have been advised to use fish from the north-east Arctic or Iceland.

Also to be avoided is the European eel. This is now a critically endangered species because of over-fishing, pollution and changes to its habitat. There are currently no sustainable options available for this species, warns the MCS.

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