LIFE is busy for Sam Chapman in Looe. The start of the COVID-19 lockdown, and a change in direction for his seafood business Nippers, coincided with he and his wife Laura just having had a baby boy.

When hotels and restaurants had to close back in March, Sam began selling boxes of locally-caught fish and shellfish direct to customers.

‘We have created a great customer base with the majority of sales now repeat orders, and we are gaining 30 or 40 new customers each week,’ said Sam.

‘I think people’s eyes have been opened to a variety of fish caught off Cornwall which is exactly what I set out to achieve.

‘Orders are coming in from all over the country. Many visitors that are unable to come to Cornwall this year are using the fish boxes to get their taste of Cornwall, which I’m more than happy to help with.’

Sam has been running Nippers since 2018 but has worked in the industry for around eight years.

He has a strong family background in fishing (one uncle, Chris Newman, runs a 14-metre trawler with his sons, and another, Clive Palfrey, is a former fisherman who now has a net-making business and acts as a Sea Safety Adviser for Seafood Cornwall Training).

Sam says that while as a youngster he dearly wanted to go to sea, seasickness proved a barrier – and so he turned his attention to a career on the harbourside.

‘I started working for a local fish merchant Richard Newman in 2012. I started as a box washer and quickly gained a huge interest in the buying and selling of fish,’ he said.

‘I taught myself to fillet and picked up a few customers who I would supply, and I would also attend farmers’ markets.’

In 2018, the opportunity to acquire Nippers came up, and Sam has expanded the offer from top quality crab meat to include a wide variety of fish and shellfish.

‘I am extremely proud of the quality fish that comes out of such a small harbour as Looe,’ he said.

‘I believe it’s important we support our small ports, where all of the boats are owned by local families.’

What does Sam advise for anyone keen to try out some locally-caught fish?

‘This week’s good buys are Red Mullet, John Dory, Plaice, Lemon Sole, Monkfish and Turbot,’ he said.

‘We are also starting to see a little bit of Mackerel again, and the Hake boats are at sea.’