What Next?

The last 2 years of Craft, Community & Culture at The Albatross have been bloody wonderful, and we are thrilled The Almond Thief are bedding in for a while. Perfect bedfellows.

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COLLABORATORS

… and more

THE ALBATROSS

… When will the Fish and Chip shop open?

We are asked almost daily - we wish we could just open! But BREXIT and the pandemic, have made business very, very unusual.

A BULL IN A BREXIT FISH SHOP

I’ve owned organic and values driven pubs for nearly 30 years. NEVER has it been so hard. Yet incredibly, of all my businesses, never have I been so proud. The Bull, our bloody good organic inn across the road, is the best by far, it’s been utterly amazing under Phill and Head Chef Johnny’s incredibly skilled leadership. They have guided us through opening and closing, staff shortages, supplier chain nightmares and historic price rises, whilst never undermining the values that drive us.

BEING BOLD MEANS BEING ASTUTE

This is why the F&C shop is a slow progression. We don’t want to compromise either business by spreading ourselves too thin when the pressures are still full on. This government has overseen a cavalcade of deeply unethical political mismanagement. So, unlike them, we will not career along blindly like an out-of-control shopping trolley, instead we will make thought-though decisions that are best for all.

PLENTY MORE FISH IN THE SEA

I think we all know there are not, not unlike recruiting in a post-BREXIT Britain.

In 1998 I opened my first pub with a strict fish policy, selling Gurnard, red mullet, coley, pollock and cuttle fish. Often, they had to be explained to our customers, as far less people had heard of them, back then these fish stocks were healthier than others... how sad none are healthy anymore.

We worked with Marine Conservation Society to create the first MCS restaurant fish policy approved by them, and with the Marine Stewardship Council to be the first restaurant to serve certified fish on our menus. And just like The Bull today we often had no fish on our menus; if there were storms at sea the small day boats didn’t go out.

As the years went by, as those fish became more popular and sold on restaurant menus everywhere, these healthier species stocks were depleted. We worked with the government and charities to try and create change in fishing practices. We campaigned on site, held big press events all around fish, yet nothing has really changed - in reality, it’s got much worse. Fish is still decimated by huge trawlers, small trawlers, by dredgers and plastic pollution. Over 26, 000 km of fishing gear, mostly the dreaded ‘Ghost Nets’ is dumped in English Channel is every year. We must drastically change how we fish.

WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING SELLING FISH AT ALL!

So, what on earth do we think we are doing buying a restaurant that only sells fish!

Well... that’s the thing. It won’t only sell fish, not by a long shot - there will be lots veg too. And meat. And lots and lots of mussels and bivalves… that’s the plan!

FISH, ALL FISH IS ENDANGERED.

But just stopping eating it is not an option. Land is already stretched, forests destroyed, and soil devastated. It’s HOW WE FISH that has to change. Across the world, huge numbers of people depend upon fish and the ocean for their survival. Closer to home BREXIT has done nothing for our own fishers, I think we know that now. Meeting with fishers in Newlyn recently ALL were dismayed by how royally they have been shafted by this government.

We KNOW can’t continue to fish as we do, so we have to think outside the box. That is where tiny experimental businesses like The Albatross come into play. We have to TRY to demonstrate that there is another way.

So, in conclusion, until we can do it this bonkers little project of ours justice, we PAUSE the cooking bit, just for now and we use The Albatross for… something else.

AND THIS IS IT.

- Geetie Singh Watson