Grimsby fish prices drop – Fishupdate.com

Grimsby fish prices drop Published:  24 February, 2009

AFTER briefly picking up last week, fish prices on the Humber took a dive again yesterday on the back of heavy landings.

Around 4,800 boxes of mainly Icelandic and Faroese fish were brought into Grimsby for the start of the week and just over 2,400 boxes were on display at Hull. Shipments from Iceland have been particularly high in the last few weeks, due in part to the Icelandic Government decision to increase the cod quota, but this has had the effect of depressing prices around the country. The recession has also had an effect on fish buying at the higher end of the restaurant trade.

At Grimsby yesterday large cod was selling at between £1.50 and £2 a kilo and some varieties of medium haddock were below £1 a kilo. Even prices for lemon soles, plaice and monkfish were down. Prices could pick up with the arrival of Lent this week which often sees a traditional increase in fish buying, but few people are holding their breath.

Leading fish supplier M&J Seafoods was predicting a period of cheap fish in its weekly market report. The bulletin expected ‘a good week for white fish supplies’ right around the country, boosted by the arrival of Irish cod which usually comes into play at this time of year. As a result, says M&J, cod prices were low, adding there were bargains to be had with haddock. Only the price of Scottish farmed salmon was on the rise, although there’s no problem with availability.