One of my former clients used to travel over to Rotterdam each year for the local herring festival, invited by a local insurance broker. The impression I got was of an alcoholic binge involving more aquavit than herring. By contrast, Hastings' first Herring Fair was pretty staid. The event wasn't helped by the weather: yesterday we had pouring rain followed by gale-force winds howling in from the sea in the evening; today we were lucky to escape with intermittent torrential showers. True to form, however, the British public put on their waterproofs and their best foot forward. On the Stade Open Space marquees had been erected for a variety of stallholders, ranging from the fishmongers and restaurateurs to local gift shops. It made for a pleasant if modest outing in the course of the weekend.
Behind this event lies a lot of work to support the local fishing community. There has been a fishery at Hastings for more than a thousand years, and many of today's fishing families can trace their forebears in the fishing industry over hundreds of years. Hastings has the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in the country, and is proud of its fishing traditions.
However, the broad brush of the EU, with quotas and restrictions, has had a severe impact on the local fishing industry, and efforts are being made to promote their cause with Brussels. I've held back from any volunteer work to date, feeling I wanted to be sure about anything I took on; but this is a cause I can fully sympathise with, and I'm seeing how I can become involved. So be prepared to hear more about fish on the blog!
Antony Mair
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