Grimsby Fish Market’s auction was a shadow of its normal Monday activity today after a key sailing from Iceland was cancelled.
Eimskip’s service did not leave Reykjavik on Wednesday, as the company responded to a lull in trade immediately after the festive period. It would normally call at the strong fishing community at The Westman Islands, south of Iceland, then The Faroes, before docking in Immingham on a Sunday.
Merchants in the town who rely on the 7am sale for fresh supply were left to source frozen from the huge storage concentration in the cluster. Others have direct sourcing arrangements, from domestic catch to international deliveries, with Scottish and Norwegian supplies prevalent.
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More than 75 per cent of the fish sold on the market is, however, Icelandic.
What would normally be a market of between 1,500 and 2,000 boxes was set at 80 on Friday.
Eimskip has assured the town it will be back, with concern from some merchants.
A spokesperson for the Reykjavik firm said: “The cancelled calls are just because of blank sailings at the slow season during Christmas and New Year, and the next regular Sunday call will be on January 16.
“The Sunday calls to Immingham will remain important in Eimskip’s schedule and for the fish import to the UK.”
With the latest Covid spike bringing caution to socialising - fish massively overtrades in an eating out etting - and people in a healthy mindset in early January when it comes to the traditional take-away - the disruption will be somewhat mitigated by low demand.
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Article updated on Monday, January 10 at 9.30am
