The Scottish Skippers Scheme, set up as a collaboration between a handful of top Scottish skippers, M & J Seafoods and Seafood Scotland, was launched last week (February 26th) at The Fishes in Oxford. It is a Peach Pub Co establishment with a reputation for serving fresh, seasonal food using the best of British ingredients, and an especially good choice of fresh fish. It is regularly patronised by Raymond Blanc.

"We are trialling this new scheme for a few months exclusively with the Peach Pub Co, then rolling it out to other interested restaurant chains," explained Mike Berthet of M & J Seafoods. "The skippers hold the last day's catch fresh on ice, to ensure that our customers are guaranteed a top quality product. They agree to handle and store it with the utmost care, so that quality and taste are not compromised, and to provide restaurant customers with the best seafood Scotland has to offer," he added.

Skippers currently in the scheme include Michael Buchan (Sustain), Peter Bruce (Budding Rose), Jimmy Buchan (Amity), Kevin West (Ryanwood) and James West (Fruitful Bough).

At the launch, customers were treated to a first class seafood meal, prepared by head chef Corin Earland and his team. They also enjoyed short presentations from Mike Berthet, Libby Woodhatch, CEO of Seafood Scotland, and two of the skippers – Peter Bruce and James West Snr.

"The event was a fantastic opportunity for us to speak directly to people who eat our fish and I was really impressed by the depth of their questions," said Peter. "They wanted to know about life at sea, the type of fish we catch, whether all the negative things they hear about the seas being empty are correct, and what we are doing in Scotland to put things right," he added.

James West also enjoyed the event, and was pleased to find the diners really interested in speaking to a couple of fishermen. "We walked around the tables answering questions, chatting about our work, and putting right some misunderstandings about industry, and they seemed thrilled to have us there," he explained.

For Lee Cash, who started the Peach Pub Company, the Scottish Skippers Scheme fits in well with his philosophy of fresh sourcing, traceability and provenance. "Getting involved in this pilot project gives us a direct link to fishermen who are catching fish in a responsible manner, and our customers really appreciate this and support our efforts," he enthused.

Libby Woodhatch found the event extremely rewarding. "This has been a long time in the planning and I am thrilled that it has finally come together. We put a lot of effort into our supply chain work and considerable time persuading fishermen to get more involved in the wider aspects of seafood supply. Talking to chefs and restaurant customers is one way to help them understand the importance of a quality supply, and Peter and James are now happy to go back to the Northeast to spread the word," she stated.

The project to develop the scheme was part-funded by M&J Seafoods and Seafish.

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