At 7.30 in the morning, all’s quiet on Pier Road, too early for the fortune teller, the rock shop and the candyfloss stall but at the quayside, where the trawlers berth, the daily fish auction is just getting under way.

Whiting, haddock, cod, langoustine, lemon sole, plaice, turbot, halibut, red mullet, Dover sole, monkfish, And squid are landed by some 20 or more trawlers that sail in and out of Whitby harbour. Day boats fish a few miles off shore, others travel a hundred miles off-shore staying at sea for two days or more.

This stretch of the east coast also supports a valuable market in brown and velvet crab and lobster. Coloured flags in the water mark the location and the ownership of pots that are dropped in the spring and summer months among the rocky outcrops all along the Yorkshire coast, and Whitby crab is a byword for excellence on restaurant menus throughout the north of England.

The area between Staithes and Spurn Point is currently undergoing assessment by the Marine Stewardship Council to establish it as a sustainable area for lobster fising. If it receives a MSC award, it will not only be a boost for the fishing communities but will give customers the confidence that Yorkshire lobster can be consumed with a clear conscience.

Though Whitby is predominantly a tourist town, it has a fishing history that goes back hundreds of years. In 657AD when Abbot Hild was founding her abbey on cliff top, Whitby was nothing more than a few hovels and a fish station. But as the town prospered through the alum industry (used to fix dye) and shipbuilding, Whitby developed a significant fishing fleet based first on herring; ‘the silver darlings’ and then on whaling.

During the 18 th century Whitby’s 55 whaling ships landed over 2,761 whales. Captain William Scoresby, Whitby’s most famous whaler and explorer, caught over 533 of them during his 30 year career.

A successful trip was signalled to the waiting wives, by the jaw bones of a whale attached to the mast as the whaler sailed into harbour. The whale bones that stand on West Cliff today are a reminder of this once valuable industry

Back at the fish auction, the bidding moves swiftly among the dozen or so wholesalers standing about in jeans and fleeces amid the blue plastic boxes and crushed ice. Telephone bids come in from other parts of the UK and Europe, Whitby fish is in demand, but the price fluctuates sharply with the season, the weather and the catch.

When it’s all over the local wholesalers may pack 30 or 40 boxes into their vans. If bad weather threatens they may have bid for 150 boxes, all to be cleaned, filleted and despatched across the country. Cod and haddock to the chippies of the Midlands, fancier fish like turbot and halibut to wet fish counters and restaurants. Langoustines, velvet crabs and lobsters to the markets and restaurants of France and Spain.

Fishing, especially cod, is now heavily restricted by strict quotas, a contentious issue among east coast fishermen who claim there is still plenty of cod around. ‘So much’ says David Winspear, managing director of Alliance Fish, ‘that the fishermen often reach their quota within the first two months of the year’. He puts this down to recovering cod stocks which is all good news, but adds, ‘Cod will never return to the way it was in the past. Warmer seas’, he says ‘have sent the fish to the colder waters of Faroe and Iceland where their strictly controlled fisheries mean that cod stocks are far healthier than ours.

The Marine Conservation Society, a charity concerned with seashore and marine life maintains that cod stocks including those of Faroe and Iceland are under pressure. They recommend choosing the more sustainable line-caught cod wherever possible.

The best fish of course, is always the one you’ve caught yourself and there are plenty of opportunities in Whitby to take a fishing trip, (bait and rods provided) with one of the many licensed boat owners touting for business on the harbourside. Cod, mackerel, whiting, ling and conger eel are usually there for the taking. And as an added bonus - global warming has brought the opportunity to spot porbeagle sharks, dolphins and minkhe whales just off the Whitby coast.

For a guide to the fish to eat and the fish to avoid, log on to the Marine Conservation Society’s www.fishonline.org or order their Good Fish Guide available to from www.mcsuk.org.

Fresh Whitby fish and shellfish is available in Whitby at The Whitby Catch www.whitbycatch.co.uk, Sandgate Seafoods 01947 601844, Whitby Fish Stores 01947 603615 and in Staithes from Whitby Sea Fish www.whitbyseafish.co.uk, in Staithes. Kippers from Fortunes 01947 601659.

To have it cooked for you, then head for Green’s www.greensofwhitby.com, The Magpie Café www.magpiecafe.co.uk Mr Chips www.misterchipswhitby.co.uk

The Moon and Sixpence 01947 604416 or the White Horse & Griffin whitehorseandgriffin.co.uk
all in Whitby, The Endeavour www.endeavour-restaurant.co.uk
at Staithes or the Fox & Hounds 01947 893372
at Goldsborough,

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