New range of Welsh fish hits the counters of major supermarket chain

Elin Jones will be at the Morrisons store in Aberystwyth to celebrate the launch of a new range of Welsh fresh fish and shell fish.

With Welsh Assembly Government support, Morrisons stores across Wales will be offering a range of fresh fish. The fish has been sourced on Welsh shores by Welsh fishermen.

Difficulties with the supply chain have historically meant that the majority of Welsh fish is exported. It is therefore not widely available to Welsh consumers. But from today Morrisons customers will be treated to a selection of:

• Welsh oysters;
• mussels;
• sea bass, and;
• trout

that they can be confident has been caught or farmed locally.

This is the first major outcome of the Welsh Assembly Government’s ‘Building Sustainable Business in the Welsh Fishing Industry’ programme. It has been established to support entrepreneurial fish businesses and strengthen links with the retail and food service sector.

Speaking about the launch, Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones said:

"I am delighted to celebrate the launch of a new range of Welsh fish and shell fish into Morrisons stores across Wales. I have been continuously vocal about the benefits of sourcing of local food but frustratingly, due to difficulties with the supply chain, the majority of high quality fish caught on our doorstep has not actually been available here in Wales.

"The Welsh Assembly Government is working hard to address this and today’s launch marks a huge step in the right direction. I congratulate Morrisons on their vision in sourcing these great products and both the participants and leaders of the Welsh Assembly Government’s ‘Building Sustainable Business in the Welsh Fishing Industry’ programme who have worked hard to make this happen.

"We are keen to further improve the availability of Welsh fish within Welsh supermarkets and will continue to work with Morrison’s and other major retailers to achieve this."

Janine Watson, Buying Manager for Morrison’s said:

"Our policy is to support and encourage locally sourced produce in each of our stores and our new Welsh Fresh fish range is a perfect example of our success so far. We take pride in our fresh fish counters stocking over 50 species, which are 100% sustainable and we hope that our Welsh shoppers enjoy our new range.

"This work is underpinned by the Wales Fisheries Strategy which was launched by the Rural Affairs Minister in 2008. The Strategy Implementation Plan came into force this summer."