Fisherman catches on to new ways

Dave Hanson rows his boat the Semira into the small natural harbour that shelters the seafront and houses at Staithes. He is one of the last remaining traditional crab and lobster fisherman in this community.

His life is determined by the weather and tides. On good days he goes out, drops the pots and returns the next day to collect his catch. Day-in, day-out fishermen accepted the hardships and dangers of this work which used to be tempered by a sense of shared experience and togetherness. Now that's gone and the boats put out to sea for what is mostly a solitary day's work.

"Its not easy leaving every morning at 4.30 virtually on your own," says Dave. "You miss the camaraderie that going out with a fleet gives you. Generally it means you have to make your own decisions and chose where to fish. Sometimes you just want to follow."

He bought the Semira, a deck vessel, to move with the times.

Before that he had an open double-ended boat, the sort familiar from the old sepia-tinted photographs of the days when fish provided everyone with livelihood in one way or another around here. But this is not a story of gloom. Dave is positive about fishing here, he's hardy and fit and an invaluable part of the community. A fourth generation fisherman in this family, he already has the fifth generation on board in the shape of his son Darren.

As for business, it's not too bad. "There's not as many crabs as there used to be but lobsters are plentiful." And when he unloads his catch there's plenty of demand, especially from the seafood factory perched on the cliff overlooking the North Sea where there's a plan to put the shellfish brought ashore here on the gastronomic map.

This is down to a life-changing decision by a hot-shot commercial lawyer to swap big-time business for small time. Someone once described mid-life crisis as something that happens when you reach the top of the ladder and you realise it's leaning against the wrong wall. It's a time of reassessment.

Mike Hoggan had scaled the career ladder of the company commercial lawyer and reached the rung where he was dealing in multi-million pound contracts. As a commercial director at the multinational engineering company GEC ALSTOM, he was responsible for the negotiation of large-scale deals worth $200m to $4bn for rail projects throughout the world.

At Rolls-Royce he was a senior commercial lawyer. Latterly he worked at energy company Enron in its European power business and led a management buyout when Enron collapsed. In the last five years, Mike focused on renewable energy, successfully raising private capital to finance a series of small scale renewable power plants .

But after 25 years as an international executive Mike decided he needed something completely different. "I live near Thirsk with my family and we'd moved many times because of my job," he says. "We love the area and the people so I decided to stay in North Yorkshire and re-prioritise." That word understates the case. In a complete change of life, the business suits were replaced with jeans and wellies, the power lunches traded in for a pie from the post office.

Mike bought the crab factory in Staithes. He swapped high finance for high tides but although it meant a total culture change, this was not a milieu where he was completely at sea.

"Buying and selling companies is something that I'm used to doing," says Mike. "The company had a healthy turnover and a good customer base and was ripe for new ownership and expansion. It is a completely different world but the fundamentals of good business practice don't change."

He concedes it was a baptism of fire and a steep learning curve. The fact that he also had to cope with a particularly long and hard winter, the worst for 30 odd years, didn't help.

But he is confident in the soundness of the business and his new found knowledge has made him optimistic for the future. The previous owner, Karen Davis, who ran the business for 25 years remains as a consultant. The operations manager Graham Landers looks after the day-to-day, leaving Mike to concentrate on new ideas.

The factory is compact and pristine and work starts here at an unearthly hour. "The crabs need to be boiled and processed and delivered to the customers soon as possible. Typically they will be boiled before three in the morning so we can process and dispatch them by lunchtime. We get our orders about eight in the morning, sometimes as late as 12, which can cause quite a bit of stress.

"Our unique selling point is that we hand-dress the crab which nowadays is something that not many people do, due to the skill time and labour cost.

"At our peak in the summer we can produce 1,000-plus dressed crabs a day, and that's in addition to boiled crab, crab claws and crab meat."

Mike says people either love crab or hate it; those who love it will always come back for more.

"There is nothing quite like fresh crab, which is comparable to any shellfish including lobster – some say better than lobster and its certainly more affordable. The species is under no real threat and is highly sustainable. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall calls it the new "super food": high in protein low in fat."

Mike is keen to get whatever Dave Hanson catches although he couldn't run Whitby Crab Company solely on what the Semira brings home. But he does source from local North Sea fishermen, principally from Whitby and Bridlington as well as Staithes.

Local supply reduces food miles, keeps employment in the area and promotes a unique local product. And like Whitby's wet fish, local crab has a high reputation with Mike selling to wholesalers in most of the major cities in Britain.

"The slight increase in sea temperature over the last 25 years means that brown crab is now available to customers all year – although the harsh winter did mean the crab was scarce after Christmas. As the weather warms, there is a marked upturn in orders which will continue through the peak summer months."

Most of his crab is sold in the south of England, particularly to London and Kent. But having rebranded the business, Mike is keen to increase his supply closer to home. "Historically we haven't sold much locally, we've concentrated on the wholesale market on a national scale. There is a good opportunity for us and local people often simply don't know we exist. We plan to change all that."

It just so happens that he has the country's best seafood restaurant almost next door. Rob Green, the chef and owner of Green's restaurant, is an evangelist for opening people's eyes to the quality and diversity of the fish that's landed on the Yorkshire coast. He was rewarded for his efforts last summer when he was made the national seafood chef of the year and is in Egon Ronay's top 200 restaurants. Rob is passionate about seafood and approaches it with an honesty that

is refreshing.

"I'm fortunate in that the location of the restaurant means that the best of the sea is literally on our doorstep," he says. "I like to use artisan suppliers, even if they can't give me the volume we need I'll make sure they make a guest appearance on the menu." Green's has a special catch of the day board and Rob's perspective is that although the volume of fish has diminished, affecting the price, what is available is therefore even more precious. Nothing is taken for granted, says Rob.

"Customers want to know if the fish is sustainable and if it supports local fishermen. Whether it's trawled fish as opposed to farmed. People are a lot more aware. Attitudes have changed with this growing awareness. In some ways it's made everyone more creative."

As a supplier to Green's, Mike Hoggan is aware of the responsibility they all owe to each other. "We could take all our crab from elsewhere, but it's important to support the local fishermen like Dave Hanson to help ensure they and the following generations keep going."

Back at the shoreline Dave is repairing his pots. I ask if the lack of competition from other boats means good news and the main catch for himself. "No, I'm sad there aren't more fishermen because that means less fish for the merchants. Anyone can fish round here, there's no foreign vessels to contend with because they can't fish inshore. It's open to anyone, first come first served."

Dave will try different places for crab and use his instincts about where to go. "Round here hard rocky ground is the best for crab, although the trawlers at Bridlington do equally well on sandy ground."

He feels strongly about EU fishing quotas and how that has severely impacted on the white fish industry. For the moment there are no such restrictions on crab or lobster. What is the way forward for the fishing industry here?

"To just keep going."

Staithes clings to the cliffs and almost spills into the harbour. The RNLI lifeboats doors are always open along with Captain Cook's Museum at the place where he first learned to love the sea.

It is good to see that it still has an authentic, though small, working fishing community which is also clinging on and now has prospects of a brighter future. Even if you take the food out of the equation, it's a tourist asset beyond price.

YP MAG 15/5/10