{"id":28735,"date":"2023-06-27T13:47:08","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T11:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=147347"},"modified":"2023-06-27T14:39:26","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T12:39:26","slug":"adam-henson-our-seaside-harvests-are-as-important-as-ever","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/adam-henson-our-seaside-harvests-are-as-important-as-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Henson: Our seaside harvests are as important as ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an island nation, fishing and our coastal harvests are as culturally and politically important as ever, says the Countryfile presenter. <\/p>

By Adam Henson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 27 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

I love the UK coastline.<\/p>\n

Given half a chance, I\u2019ll be on a sandy West Country beach, island-hopping in Scotland<\/a> or exploring the streets of a tiny seaside town.<\/a> I love it. But there\u2019s another side to coastal Britain that fascinates me, and that\u2019s as a working environment. As I turn my thoughts to gathering in the crops at home, thousands of people are involved in harvesting of a different kind.<\/p>\n

If you have ever watched the fishing boats sailing in or out of the harbours at Brixham, Newlyn or Grimsby, you\u2019ll know that thousands of families rely on the sea for their livelihoods. The UK fishing fleet has shrunk in recent decades, and it has been more than 20 years since the government department dealing with the industry was known as the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (now called DEFRA). But fishing remains a way of life that\u2019s politically important and culturally significant for our island nation. If you have ever walked past a wet-fish stall offering freshly caught Whitby crab or tasty Rye Bay herring, you will appreciate why people are so passionate about it.<\/p>\n

\""BRIXHAM,\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Fishing boats moored in Brixham harbour in Devon, England\/Credit: Matt Cardy, Getty.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

It\u2019s the same with estuary fishing. On the River Thames at Leigh-on-Sea, the cockle boats moored beside the sand and shingle aren\u2019t just for show. The locals have been gathering cockles from the sticky mud and cooking them in the boiling sheds here for generations. The old way of hand-raking the sandflats at low-tide has been replaced by hydraulic dredges, with an eye on protecting the marine environment and a sustainable stock level. Cockles are traditionally sold with winkles and whelks, and when cockle vendors used to wheel their barrows through London\u2019s gas-lit streets, the only way to measure equal portions was by using a pint glass. Leigh cockles are still sold by the pint today.<\/p>\n

Cockle boats leaving Leigh on Sea at sunrise #Leigh<\/a> #LeighonSea<\/a> #Southend<\/a> #Essex<\/a> #cockles<\/a> #boats<\/a> #fishingboats<\/a> #sunrise<\/a> #dawn<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/gx91yD6Mkz<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Colm O Laoi (@virtualcolm) September 20, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>