Member Article

Fishing News Awards crowns winners

The outstanding performers of the British and Irish fishing industry have been honoured at the annual Fishing News Awards, with Scotland and the South West of England emerging as the country’s most successful areas, with six and four awards respectively.

The coveted ‘Young Fisherman of the Year’ title was shared between 17-year-old Jordan Harrison, from Bridlington in Yorkshire, and 23-year-old Alexander West, from Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire. The ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was jointly handed to Andrew Bremner, along with Dick James, of County Down in Northern Ireland.

Elsewhere, Brixham retained its title as ‘Port of the Year’ in a hotly-contested category, that saw Scalloway receive a ‘Highly Commended’ second place.

Lowrie Irvine, from Whalsay in the Shetland Islands, took home the ‘Pelagic Fisherman of the Year’ title, while Cornwall’s Brackan Pearce won out in the ‘Demersal Fisherman of the Year’ award. Jointly taking home the title of ‘Shellfish Fisherman of the Year’ were Mark Pender, of Bryher in the Isles of Scilly, and Steve Girgan, from Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway.

Scotland’s winners were rounded out in the ‘New Boat of the Year’ category, awarded to Symbister’s Resilient LK 195 and the ‘Technical Innovation of the Year’ category, won by QUIKSLING of Peterhead. Meanwhile, the ‘Contribution to Safety Award’, was presented to the North Atlantic Fisheries College in Scalloway, along with the RNLI’s Fishing Safety team.

The South West saw further success, with Brixham-based Simon Lane landing the award for ‘Independent Fresh Fish Retailer of the Year’.

Other winners included Yorkshire’s Lockers Fish, in the ‘Fish Processor of the Year’ category and Northumberland’s The Old Boathouse, which took home the title of ‘Coastal Fish Restaurant of the Year’.

This year also saw a new ‘Special Contribution Award’ in the Technical Innovation category going to Crystal Sea SS 118. This is a symbolic industry award for the huge amount of development work British fishermen have pioneered in recent years, to advance highly-selective fishing gear in order to reduce discards.

Tim Oliver, a previous editor, and long-time contributor to Fishing News, was awarded the ‘Outstanding Contribution’ award.

The awards were presented at a ceremony in Aberdeen on 25 May and were hosted by comedian Rory Bremner.

On the awards, Rory commented: “As one of the world’s great island nations, the quality and diversity of our seafood is second to none. Tonight’s winners and nominees epitomise the best of the thousands of men and women across the British Isles who dedicate themselves day in, day out, to bringing plentiful fish and shellfish to our plates. I salute them all.”

The Fishing News Awards celebrate the men and women who work long hours, often in extremely difficult conditions, to put healthy and sustainable food on our tables.

David Linkie, editor of Fishing News, said: “Our fishermen work incredibly hard throughout the year to provide the nation with healthy, sustainable and tasty food. The Fishing News Awards is all about recognising the very best of the best in the industry and this year saw an incredibly competitive field of entries. The quality of British and Irish fishing is a shining example for the rest of the world, and long may that continue.”

Thousands of votes were cast across 10 categories by members of the public, with the Lifetime Achievement, Outstanding Contribution and the Young Fisherman of the Year categories being decided by a dedicated panel.

Fishing remains one of the UK’s most challenging occupations, with almost 12,000 fishermen still setting out to catch the 756,000 tonnes of seafood landed by British vessels each year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rebecca Jackson .