There has been some positive news for Cornwall’s fishing industry lately with two injections of Government funding.

A grants scheme for under 24-m vessels is aimed at helping fishermen with their fixed costs. A further £1m has been made available under a Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme, to encourage initiatives which promote new routes of getting fish to customers in the face of the collapse in the export and restaurant trade caused by the Coronavirus.

We spoke to two people in Looe whose daily working lives are focused on the harbour and the fishing industry: Dave Bond, fisherman and chair of the harbour commissioners, and Sam Chapman, whose business Nippers has moved from supply to restaurants to direct to customers as a response to the current crisis.

Dave Bond says that the pandemic has cut out his usual earnings for the coming six weeks or so

Dave, who has an under-10m netting boat and employs one crew member, said: ‘Normally we’d shoot our turbot nets now, but we haven’t, because the restaurant trade has collapsed and there’s no export.

‘The pandemic has not stopped us from commercial fishing completely. There’s a niche market that has been developed door to door, but the prices for fishermen are low.’

The Government package of support has been ‘fantastic as far as fishermen are concerned’.

‘Most of the fishermen in Looe are tenants of the Harbour and have stores, which has enabled them to claim the small business rates grant. The licenced boats have been able to draw from the Fisheries fund,’ he said.

‘For those few tripping boats that neither have stores, nor are licenced fishing boats, they should be able to benefit from the Government’s self-employed support, which is coming into play at the moment.’

Meanwhile, Sam Chapman has seen his daily work change completely in the weeks since the lockdown.

His business, Nippers, has supplied crab, lobster and other shellfish to restaurants for the past two years, but he has recently begun a home delivery service and is now delivering out more than 200 boxes a week both in South East Cornwall and further afield.

Rather than taking specific orders, Sam is pushing a ‘mystery box’ to customers, containing whatever types of fish and shellfish offer most value that day at the market.

He buys Looe-caught fish at Plymouth market, and says that while he’s always bought crab and lobster direct from fishermen in Looe and Cawsand, increasingly he’s sourcing fish direct from the boats, too.

‘Loads of people have said that the boxes have made them try new things,’ he said.

‘We’re trying to promote sustainable stocks, and things that are in season now, like lemon sole, John Dory, red mullet, pollack, monkfish, and the hook and line bass that has just started.’

Sam hopes that the public might change their eating habits as a result of shopping differently during the last few weeks, and will steer away from species such as cod, which are not caught in abundance off Cornwall.

‘We hope people will continue buying locally after the restrictions lift,’ he said. ‘The best thing we can all do is support our local fishmonger and this in turn supports the local industry.’