RMT backs drink driving

[corydoras]

When I said a stone that was for live ones, in their shells. My lot in France seem to think that if shellfish is not live then you can't tell how fresh it is.I didn't realise that Kirkcudbright was a centre of clam fishing, I thought you only had the centipede

Jeez, why would anyone want to eat lethargic dive caught flab when you can have the lean mean swimming machines without paying the inflated flab premium?

 

Ps...West and North Skye scallops are easily the worst quality scallops that we fish, dreadful, the processors cringe when you land from there.

 

If you are ever in Kirkcudbright drop me a PM and you will inherit a kilo of the finest scallops that you have ever eaten FOC, the lean mean swimming machine variety. That will be pure meat as due to food hygiene regs it is all but illegal to sell the unshucked animal nowadays.

 

The biggest market for Kirkcudbright scallops is sadly in France, some do go locally, some do go elsewhere but sadly the continent is where it is really at, although they pay a lot more than 25 to 30 Euro per stone, per kilo perhaps.

 

I am like you I find the UKs seafood marketplace embarrassing, there are a few exceptions but the UK consumer has gotten out of the way of real food, and this is not seafood specific, if it doesn't come in a ready to cook bag many UK consumers just do not want to know.

 

I hate with a vengeance all this preaching which only ever inflates prices placing quality seafood out of reach to ordinary people like us, it should never be conscience massaging food for the elite imho.

 

The Froggies also have their ready meals and such like. The difference is that some of the pre-packed stuff is still bloody good. Take escargot for an example. There are three ways to get them. You can go out and catch live ones from outside. You need a permit to do that (A bit like the English rod license), or you can buy them from a fishmonger or you can buy a big bag of frozen ones. Most folks buy frozen. Preparing your own fresh caught ones is toooo much of a palaver, from the fish shop is too dear so most folk just buy frozen. My mother in law buys fresh, live scallops, but my ex-wife and my daughter will buy the shucked ones.

 

I do like scallops, they were the first shellfish I tasted that I liked.

Edited February 20, 2015 by corydoras

[barry luxton]

Jeez, why would anyone want to eat lethargic dive caught flab when you can have the lean mean swimming machines without paying the inflated flab premium?

 

We have to put up with dive caught off Portland, too rocky, yup very tasty Steven, however you could always enlighten me with some in the post.

Edited February 20, 2015 by barry luxton

[big_cod]

No but even the humblest vessels today have enough tech not only to know exactly what the sea bed looks like ,IE is its flat with smooth undulations its probably sand shingle or mud and if it rises steeply its a wreck reef or whale and GPS means you can't do much accidentally.

So they are either deliberately risking their gear and vessel or they are stupid.

As for the single scallop I don't care where they congregate but I know they don't crawl and can rapidly move from a to b ,if they end up on a reef it could be their visiting a crab or lost not that they may choose to live on a rock.

Not sure experts say x is true because of a sole sighting nor a scallop either

As for shellfish I prefer whelk over scallop any day and I don't care how they are obtained or what is destroyed getting them

Perhaps whelkers whistle them into one spot with gold flutes and tame dolphins round them up I really don't care honest

If scallopers do this or that they made their bed and they will lie in it, their choice short term greed over long term need I guess we all know the outcome sure as night is day the French will close the ports and RMT bigwigs get paid very hamsomly

Chesters never like scallops give me an oyster any day but sorry mate but anybody who has half a brain with the technology these days knows the difference between hard ground and softcover it's on all the charts if you are new to the area a limited nieve chesters but you ain't a fisherman .

 

Paul

[chesters1]

Chesters never like scallops give me an oyster any day but sorry mate but anybody who has half a brain with the technology these days knows the difference between hard ground and softcover it's on all the charts if you are new to the area a limited nieve chesters but you ain't a fisherman .

 

Paul

I think thats what i said

[stevieg]

Chesters never like scallops give me an oyster any day but sorry mate but anybody who has half a brain with the technology these days knows the difference between hard ground and softcover it's on all the charts if you are new to the area a limited nieve chesters but you ain't a fisherman .

Paul

Interesting post Paul, the ground often changes twenty times and more in the space of a mile, I have never seen a chart with that level of seabed detail (as every fisherman knows most Nav charts are based on surveys from decades back, sometimes centuries back when navigational accuracy was a pipedream).

 

I am starting to appreciate what drives much of your mindset.

 

Now...these industrial quantities of fish you regularly take, or took, are you still at it or have we embraced conservation even a teensy weensy bit?

[big_cod]

Steve I am sorry mate but you are full of **** and that's big style a limit of 6 mile is now enforced loads of happy fishermen her at whitby and Scarborough now and not before time .

 

Paul

 

 

Paul

Edited February 20, 2015 by big_cod

[stevieg]

Steve I am sorry mate but you are full of **** and that's big style a limit of 6 mile is now enforced loads of happy fishermen her at whitby and Scarborough now and not before time .

 

Paul

 

 

Paul

 

Very happy for you to show me where anything that I have ever posted is not 100% correct Paul.

 

I am rather surprised that you are not grasping the opportunity to enlighten us as to your conservation credentials, I can only assume that you must have somehow missed this part -

 

Now...these industrial quantities of fish you regularly take, or took, are you still at it or have we embraced conservation even a teensy weensy bit?

 

Any comment?

[stevieg]

When I said a stone that was for live ones, in their shells. My lot in France seem to think that if shellfish is not live then you can't tell how fresh it is.I didn't realise that Kirkcudbright was a centre of clam fishing, I thought you only had the centipede

 

The Froggies also have their ready meals and such like. The difference is that some of the pre-packed stuff is still bloody good. Take escargot for an example. There are three ways to get them. You can go out and catch live ones from outside. You need a permit to do that (A bit like the English rod license), or you can buy them from a fishmonger or you can buy a big bag of frozen ones. Most folks buy frozen. Preparing your own fresh caught ones is toooo much of a palaver, from the fish shop is too dear so most folk just buy frozen. My mother in law buys fresh, live scallops, but my ex-wife and my daughter will buy the shucked ones.

 

I do like scallops, they were the first shellfish I tasted that I liked.

 

Kirkcudbright is an interesting place in the scallop world, tiny wee place of around 3,500 people, huge number of retirees so a working population of maybe 1200, yet somewhere around £20 Million worth of scallops are exported from this tiny village on an annual basis.

 

It is not unusual for local boats to be fishing within sight of the French Coast, the catch is then landed on the UK South Coast, transported up to Kirkcudbright for processing, then exported back down the road to be bought by French Consumers in French shops, bringing lots of lovely fresh currency into UK Plc, a fiscal dream for the UK economy.

Edited February 20, 2015 by stevieg

[chesters1]

 

Kirkcudbright is an interesting place in the scallop world, tiny wee place of around 3,500 people, huge number of retirees so a working population of maybe 1200, yet somewhere around £20 Million worth of scallops are exported from this tiny village on an annual basis.

 

It is not unusual for local boats to be fishing within sight of the French Coast, the catch is then landed on the UK South Coast, transported up to Kirkcudbright for processing, then exported back down the road to be bought by French Consumers in French shops, bringing lots of lovely fresh currency into UK Plc, a fiscal dream for the UK economy.

A dream for the exporters why not just land the catch in france and cut out one of the fat middle men or am i being naive (not the first time)

[stevieg]

A dream for the exporters why not just land the catch in france and cut out one of the fat middle men or am i being naive (not the first time)

 

Hi chesters1, the sector of the market the scallops are sold on is generally for meat (and roe) only, some go in the shell but mostly meat only, this requires a fair degree of processing - which is all still done by the good old Mark 1 human being.

 

Of the towns 1200 working population I touched on above 200+ are directly involved in this processing (the districts largest private employer by quite a margin), 20 are directly involved in scallop gear manufacture and repair + around 100 on the boats themselves, and heaps of indirectly dependant, so it is quite a gig for a small coastal community and we would not wish to cut any of these people out of the benefit chain.

 

We are all fiercely protective of what we have here. Obviously some make more out of it than others but the number of families who benefit from the scallop industry in one way or the other is very substantial.