Storm Dennis battered UK coastlines with rainfall and strong winds Monday, leaving the port of Grimsby, where many seafood processors are located, with no fish from its main importer, Iceland.
"The Icelandic container vessels were delayed, meaning today we had no fish," Grimsby Fish Market CEO Martyn Boyers told IntraFish. "Monday for us is usually the busiest day. We hope that it is rectified for tomorrow."
According to Boyers, market activity was restricted to less than 40 boxes.
The market sells around 300,000 boxes overall a year, but more than 90 percent is imported. In a previous report, Boyers told IntraFish that the volume of sales was roughly 300 metric tons a week of mainly haddock and cod.
In the late '90s, Grimsby was catching fish in high volumes, but today, the majority the fish sold at the Grimsby Fish Market and supplied to local processors is whitefish imported from Iceland and Norway.
“Grimsby Fish Market has always been able to adapt to the system. We are not doing anything unique per se, but we fit in nicely for where we are and for bringing in fish from Iceland," Boyers said then. "Fish comes to Grimsby because it has to be processed.”
According to Grimsby-based Alfred Enderby CEO Patrick Salmon, a similar delay happened last Monday after the passing of Storm Ciara, but that it was "purely logistics" and he expects things to return back to normal very quickly.
"The ferry that the fish comes on got into port, but the cranes that lift the fish on to port couldn't operate, so fish didn't come into market this morning but will be there tomorrow. It happens from time to time," he said.
"It's the weather we're having. But there's no infrastructure damage or flooding or anything, purely logistics because of high wind. Nothing more dramatic."
Simon Dwyer, a spokesperson for the Seafood Grimsby & Humber cluster told IntraFish that this kind of delay happens roughly four or five times in a year, due to weather conditions, but affirmed that Grimsby didn't suffer any infrastructure damage. "We're in good shape."
In other parts of the United Kingdom, a Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation representative told IntraFish that the storm hit Scotland pretty badly, but that no reports on the impact have yet come in from companies.
"It normally takes a while for us to hear of anything as companies are busy assessing the situation."
