Thursday 30 July 2009

River Lune salmon

A wild River Lune salmon, proudly held aloft by Jamie of Shaw's fishmongers in Lancaster Market.

Jamie explained that this wild salmon had been caught under licence near Sunderland Point on the mouth of the River Lune. You'll notice the tag: As soon as the salmon is caught, it must be tagged and recorded by the licensed fisherman, and then again on arrival at the fishmongers. Strict controls are in place by the Environment Agency, and records of all salmon caught and sold must be matched against quotas imposed by them.

There are a limited number of licences available and Jamie confirmed there is no guarantee of a regular catch, mainly because the salmon must be caught using traditional funnel nets. Jamie, Fred and a knowledgeable customer also pointed out that these licensees catch the salmon more for love than money - they know of fishermen who have lost money over the course of the season.

Jamie took this salmon from the refridgerated storage, where it was waiting to be 'worked on' by Jamie, Fred and Kev tomorrow or Saturday morning. Because it is caught locally and brought straight to the mongers, the salmon must be left to rest for at least 24 hours until the rigor mortis has eased. Until this time, it is still too stiff to do anything with.

It was a pleasure talking with Jamie and Fred, and I hope I have done justice to the knowledge they were happy to share with me. Unfortunately we will be away over the weekend so won't have a chance to try this particular salmon, but will make a point of getting a few steaks from the next catch. Thanks guys.

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for all of the interesting information. I love grilled salmon! Those are great pictures.

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  2. I've been scrolling through and enjoying your portrait work. It's a particular talent to get a good one, because it's more than technical. The photo ends up being a statement about how you relate to your subject. These are wonderful.
    (Check your 7/27 upload, it's missing on my screen.)

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  3. I see some wonderful salmon filets in someone's future!! Great photos!

    Please look at the newest CDP blog from AFGHANISTAN:
    www.InnerPeaceHerat.blogspot.com

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  4. Thanks Lois - me too! Petrea, having the same problem here since a couple of days ago, and the pictures are mysteriously not on my HDD any longer either! I can't understand what has happened/where they have gone - very strange... Thanks for the link Leif; great to have an Afghani blog.

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  5. Good sized fish, I too like grilled salmon. Much better than farmed I think.
    Bridget and I were in Harrogate last week, she wanted tea at Betty's. Thanks for dropping by on my Leeds daily photo

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  6. I have some salmon in the fridge. It will probably be the Friday dinner. Nice portrait and story.

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  7. Sunderland Point is such a strange and lovely place. We went for a walk round there when the salmon were just first coming through (but the tide was out, so the guys were apparently out cockling instead). You should definitely get some photos from there.

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  8. That is a huge salmon. It must be thirty years since I visited Sunderland Point.

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  9. You have indeed done justice to the lads and their knowledge. The portraits are wonderful. You are very good at them.

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  10. thank you for all your comments. the real thanks goes to the old time fishermen. and they know who they are, these guys stand in the river and wait and wait;; jamie shaw

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  11. good sized salmon,but the real catch is the sexy guy holding it

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Thanks for the comment in advance. All thoughts are appreciated ~ Eamon.