Episode 8 Landward

Hello and a very warm welcome to Landward, which this week

celebrates the produce of our 11,000 miles of coastline and

takes a look at the seafood we eat, sell and enjoy at home and away.

I'm on my way to Brussels for the world's largest seafood event,

Seafood Expo Global,

along with others from the Scottish fishing industry.

Now, most of the seafood we produce is not sold at home, but abroad,

and I want to find out how we go about selling it to the world.

Also coming up on the programme...

Sarah gets the lowdown at the fish market.

I can see a nod from that man over there, what do you do?

I'll give you a wink, Sarah!

I'll be investigating a new scheme to protect our waters.

The protection for these important habitats

is 50 years behind that on land.

And Nick tempts the good folk of Glasgow with an unsung hero

of the seas.

I'm giving the ecstasy face but it is beautiful.

ACCORDION MUSIC

As the world's largest seafood fair,

Seafood Expo Global gives companies the chance to do business

with potential buyers and also find a place on the global market.

Now, we may be a small country, but last year, our seafood industry

exported a staggering £572 million worth of seafood.

It's one of our biggest exports and it is vital to our economy.

But with over 1,600 companies exhibiting here from 75 countries,

the Scottish industry needs to fight to stand out from the crowd.

From salmon to shellfish, to white fish and mackerel, Scottish seafood

businesses need to keep working hard to stay ahead of the competitors.

And to demonstrate what the Scottish industry

is capable of producing, Scottish companies selling seafood

will exhibit right here,

in this large and very impressive Scottish pavilion.

Our biggest export by a long, long way is salmon,

and one small Scottish company hoping to capitalise on this

are these guys, the Hebridean Smokehouse from North Uist.

-Christopher, good morning.

-Good morning to you.

Tell me about your biggest seller. I am presuming it is salmon.

Our main product is salmon, yes.

We've sold mail order to pretty much every country in the world

-since about 1987.

-I presume you are coming here to expand

-things even more?

-Yes, that's right.

This is really a showcase for what we do.

And it is THE place to meet people.

It's the biggest show in Europe bar none.

Nolan's, a fish processing company from Aberdeen,

are using the event to launch their new Pure Scottish branding.

We want to take the focus, Scottish produce,

best in the world, out there in the marketplace.

In previous years, you had to go on the road, you had to visit all

your customers, took you weeks and weeks and weeks out of your life.

Now, you can meet them all here in three days.

Everyone who's anyone is here and all the booths are taken.

All the bigger companies are represented here.

And the Scottish shellfish sector are also here to make

the most of this unique marketing opportunity.

We have been attending exhibitions

and making inroads into particularly Asia and China.

And we hope to meet more of those customers here.

How big potentially is that area for all Scottish producers?

Simply massive.

China could swallow all of our products if we wanted,

but we want to take our time. And they are right.

You have got to take your time.

You have got to learn about the culture, the distribution channels,

choosing the right partner and we envisage that.

That's a four or five year process.

At the moment, the bulk of Scottish seafood exports go to

European countries like France, Spain and Italy.

But there is massive potential for opening up new markets.

The man leading this trade mission is Graham Young,

chief executive of Seafood Scotland.

-Is it important to you to have a big presence here?

-Absolutely.

We have 18 companies on stands and other people what

they call walking the show, going around meeting people.

We've got five or six other companies in the hall,

so a fantastic Scottish presence at the show here this year.

How much of the seafood we produce in Scotland

do we actually end up exporting?

We export a significant quantity of our seafood, to primarily

France, Spain and Italy, which has been the traditional market.

And recently we have been looking at other markets in Asia, what

we call the emerging markets so we are doing quite a lot of work there.

How difficult, or how much of a challenge is it to break into these emerging markets?

We've been identifying chefs groups to work with around the world

and the number of people who have been in Scotland who have gone

abroad to work, people who have come to Scotland to work,

they know our produce, they seek it out,

and it is trying to identify them, the importers and distributers,

working with those to create the supply chains we want to develop.

I've been walking around quite a lot of the stands this morning

and every country says they are the best,

every country says they are the freshest.

What gives Scotland the edge, if we indeed have an edge?

Scotland's reputation goes before it.

There is a fantastic whiskey industry in the country,

that's known around the world and we are trying to bring the same

cues as to why people want to buy whiskey, back into seafood.

Our salmon is well known around the world so by joining that lot up

and bringing a Scottish basket of goods together, that is

what is helping to get us leverage with other countries.

Later, I'll be finding out what the foreign buyers think of us...

It is OK to tell your story because no-one else will do it for you,

and so I'd kind of like to see Scotland shake it up a little bit.

..and see just how much free food I can scoff.

But first, Sarah is finding out about a company who want

to sell more fish to us at home.

She's been to Kinlochbervie to investigate.

82, four, six, eight, 20, two, four, six...

-96, 100...

-It's five o'clock

and the fish market here in Kinlochbervie is in full swing.

Boats have landed and we've got cod, haddock, coley, squid,

an array of fish on offer and the trading is brisk.

Eight, 100, and two, four, six, £106.

I'm here with Alan, a local skipper, and what I didn't appreciate

is that everything on market today is from one boat, your boat?

-That is correct.

-And you just came in this morning?

-That is correct, yes.

-My goodness. This is quite a haul.

There's over 1000 boxes, almost 1,100 boxes,

-there's about 58 tonne of fish.

-So what fish, if any, are you targeting?

-We are targeting monk.

-Where does the monk go?

-It's mainly Italy and Spain.

-So most of the monk goes abroad?

-Yes.

And how much of the fish here today will stay in the UK?

-Percentage-wise, maybe 40%.

-40%.

But would you like to see more fish stay in...

I would love to see more fish stay in the UK.

There are several reasons,

relatively little of the Scottish catch stays at home.

For many years, the Europeans have bulk-bought species that the

UK market has been traditionally wary of.

So even as tastes at home have become more adventurous, it has been

easier and more profitable to keep selling the fish abroad.

But one of the buyers here, Stroopy,

is sourcing seafood for the local market.

I haven't seen you bid yet, have you been bidding?

-I have been, aye, haven't you noticed?

-what is your bid technique?

I can see a nod from that man over there, what do you do?

I'll give you a wink, Sarah!

Some of what Stroopy has brought is destined for a new,

small local company with an innovative way of distribution.

That company is owned by Magnus Houston

and they also buy from smaller boats fishing from local harbours.

Building on the popularity of the veg box movement,

the company distribute fish boxes to individuals

and restaurants across Scotland and further south.

I've come to meet Magnus at his base in Inverness.

Everything comes in and it's all hands-on on deck?

We sort them all out, we package them up

and what we're doing here is we are skimming off what

we want for local customers and the rest of it, we send away to Europe.

So where did the whole idea come from?

-Basically, I am not from a fishing background.

-What is your background?

-Er, a motorcycle racer, before that!

-A motorcycle racer?

From motorcycle racing to fish boxes?

Yes, basically I had an accident which stopped me racing

and me and my girlfriend went up to the West Coast to see one of her

friends and her husband had a wee lobster boat in Kylesku,

and we went out in the lobster boat and I just thought, this is for me.

So I started fishing and...

Less dangerous, I suspect, than motorcycle racing.

Only slightly, I would say. Only slightly.

At that time I hadn't tried lobster,

I hadn't tried brown crab, and I used to take some home at night

and me and my girlfriend would cook it up and we were sitting there

basically eating it going, how can everyone get this?

Once the amazing array of seafood has come in, the clock is ticking

to get it sorted, filleted and packed as quickly as possible.

But it does throw up a few occupational hazards.

What's the key to holding a crab? Stay away from the...

Grab it from the back.

Just like that, but it will still get you.

It will still get you. Let's have a go.

Oh, oh!

-Squeeze the back.

-Oh, squeeze the back? Oh!

Just like other fruit and veg box schemes, the emphasis

is very much on seasonality and what is available at the time of year.

Also on the team is Magnus's partner Fiona.

So how does the system work?

Basically, customers can sign up to a fish box

-and they choose how much they want to spend.

-How do you keep it fresh?

We send out the fish boxes in these little poly boxes.

So that keeps it cold

but what we also do is pop in these frozen gel packs.

The boxes then go to customers across the country.

The popularity of the fish box scheme shows there is a growing appetite

for fresh and varied seafood close to home.

Because a lot of what was landed goes directly abroad, it is difficult

to get hold of, and perhaps more of us should be demanding

that the fresh fish, the amazing array of fresh fish

that is landed here and in other ports, stays on our shores.

Back here in Brussels, it looks like the battle to keep more

Scottish seafood at home could be a long one.

There's no shortage of foreign buyers showing interest

in the Scottish stands.

There are lots of other countries who do scampi and scallops,

why do you choose Scottish produce in particular?

-It's for the quality.

-It's all about quality?

-Yes.

And would you like to develop this relationship

and buy more Scottish produce?

Yes, for sure!

That's why I'm here!

But while the quality may speak for itself, Scottish businesses need to

market themselves effectively to stay ahead of the competition.

Polly Legandre is a brand specialist in the food industry.

I think Scotland should do a little bit more reaching out

and pulling that in and owning a little bit of that modernity,

owning that attitude, not just being stuck in the classic

"this is how we always do it, this is how we've always done,"

and showing up a little bit more innovation,

a little bit more creation and owning that story.

It's OK to tell your story and toot your own horn,

cos nobody else is going to do it for you.

So I would kind of like to see Scotland shake it up a bit

and try to pull people in and say no, seriously,

we're really onto something here.

An essential part of the Scottish story are the clean waters

we fish from.

I've been to find out how the appetite for seafood can be

balanced against the protection of the marine environment.

Scotland's seas are home to some stunning creatures.

From the tiny jewel anemone to the vast basking shark.

All part of a complex ecosystem that needs protection from human

exploitation like dredging and drilling.

The Scottish government is legally required to set up

a network of marine protected areas around our shores.

The plan is to have them in place by 2016.

Earlier this month, the government's own advisers recommended

that 33 different areas should be protected.

These are the suggested MPAs.

They are not designed to manage fish stocks.

They are more like nature reserves at sea,

planned to protect habitats or species.

Anything from this ocean quahog which can live to 400 years,

to the critically endangered common skate.

But can these marine protected areas make any difference to our seas,

and at what costs to fishermen?

That is what I want to investigate.

First up is Loch Fyne

where I am meeting Calum Duncan from the Marine Conservation Society.

-Hi, Dougie, nice to see you.

-Nice to see you.

Part of Loch Fyne is a proposed MPA.

Why do these areas need protecting?

Well, on land, we are used to areas for farming, for forestry

but there are also areas recognised as important for wildlife,

local nature reserves, national nature reserves.

And we need to think of the sea in the same way, the sea bed

and the life above it.

There is a whole range of uses that we can have of the sea

but the protection for these important habitats

is 50 years behind that on land,

and that is why these new marine protected areas are so important.

Exactly what type of fishing is allowed in each zone is still

to be confirmed and will vary.

Many people think the network of MPAs will succeed or fail

depending on how strictly fishing is controlled within them,

particularly types of fishing where gear is towed along the sea bed

like scallop dredging.

-How are you?

-Very good, welcome on board.

-Thank you very much.

David Ainslie is taking me out on to the Firth of Lorn to see a stretch

of water that has already been protected for the last seven years.

He campaigned to have scallop dredging banned here

and succeeded in 2007.

David is convinced that the sea floor is recovering well,

but surprisingly, even a rocky reef in the firth

alongside the dredged area is changing, too.

We have lots of film of what that reef was like

while dredging was going on.

And we have lots of film of the same part of the reef now that

dredging has stopped.

Now, in the old days, jewel anemones were very colourful

anemones which kind of form a band underneath the kelp.

You could hardly find them in the Firth of Lorn.

-There was the odd bunch, but that was it.

-Yes.

Now, this reef and a number of other reefs have really quite

healthy populations of jewel anemones.

In these pictures taken before the dredging ban,

you can clearly see sediment lying on the surface of the rock.

David believes this is silt kicked up by dredging

that smothers out jewel anemones,

which need clear water in the summer months to thrive.

These pictures filmed after dredging had been banned show

the colourful anemones blooming.

People might say you wouldn't stop us dredging just to protect

a few anemones,

but they are bit like the canary the miners used to take into the mines.

They are an indicator of the health of the ecosystem.

If the jewel anemones are doing well,

then everything else is probably quite good.

But, does all this protection come at a cost for fishermen?

Archie McFarlane from the Clyde Fishermen's Association

is concerned that if MPAs control fishing to strictly,

they could put some of his members out of business.

He is also frustrated that fishermen are often accused

of not caring about conservation.

We recognise the importance of protecting the marine environment.

After all, our future depends on a good healthy ecosystem

and to be able to take our catch out of that ecosystem.

Local fishermen have voluntarily restricted their fishing

in some areas.

In Loch Shira we don't fish in there

to protect the fireworks anemone.

Around the point here,

we have got a depth restriction to protect the seagrass beds.

The features are protected and it's worked really well.

If the proposals that we see so far are carried through

and it could mean the exclusion of fishing activity from certain areas,

and that's going to be a big issue,

that's going to cause a lot of financial pain.

It seems clear that if Marine Protected Areas are to have any

impact, they are going to have to be ambitious and properly enforced.

But fishing is a crucial component of the rural economy.

So in the coming months, the government

is going to have to strike a balance between conservation

and protecting people's livelihoods.

Back in Brussels, everyone is enjoying free food.

Nice work if you can get it.

One of the great things about coming to an event like this is

trying all the samples that are on offer and the centrepiece

of the Scottish pavilion is the Scottish seafood bar.

Kevin, can I come round here? Good to see you. Do you need a hand?

-Yes, here's an apron for you, Dougie.

-I'll take my gear off.

So, Dougie we're going to cook up some beautiful

Scottish scallops here.

-Get the pan nice and hot.

-Nice hot pan, yes.

-Oh, lovely.

-Some nice plump scallops.

The secret of cooking the scallops is not to move them all, the pan.

Don't be starting shaking the pan about.

Keep the pan still so the scallop seals.

We get a nice caramelisation on the scallops.

Now, one thing I've really noticed is when you are cooking here,

people just flock to this place.

Having the Scottish reputation,

is that quite important with the stuff you're actually cooking?

Yeah, yeah, without a doubt.

We've been cooking here the past two or three days

and as soon as we start cooking, the crowds just...

It's fantastic, the amount of people.

And they appreciate what we're cooking

and asking questions about it.

It's not just people grazing.

People actually inquisitive about what we're doing.

Are these people who understand,

are they from the European market or from all over the world?

All over the world, yeah, very much so.

-Ready. Nice and juicy.

-Don't look there.

There's thousands of people already. We've just started.

Lots of people are starting to smell things.

-One that got away.

-Easy now.

OK, and that's just a wee cup of gorgeous Scottish scallops.

-How's your arm there?

-Very hot.

THEY LAUGH

-You're not meant to roast your arm.

-No, try not roasting your arm.

Lovely. Here we go.

-Sensational.

-Tasty? Very simple and tasty. That's the secret.

-And cooked in a minute and a half or something?

-Yeah, minute and a half.

Incredible. I clearly can not cook. There's no doubt about that,

but our man Nick Nairn knows a thing or two

when it comes to cooking seafood and he is in Glasgow just now

trying to convince the good people there to take to hake.

I'll scoff this in the meantime.

This week, the street food van is in Buchanan Street.

And of course, because the Landward street food van is a partnership,

-I'm again joined by Sarah.

-Thank you very much, Nick.

Later on, Nick and I are going to be heading out on to the streets to

find out what the lovely people of Glasgow make of what we made.

Speaking of which, what are we making?

-We're going to make fishcakes with hake.

-Hake?

Sometimes, half of the Peterhead Market, which is

the biggest fish market in the whole of Europe is hake

and often the whole lot goes to Spain, but it's highly prized.

So tell me more about hake. It looks a bit like cod. It's very meaty.

It's very meaty. It's similar to cod.

A slightly different bone structure. It's got quite a dense texture.

-It makes a brilliant fishcake or a hake cake.

-A hake cake.

-Shall we get started? We're going to make some hake cakes.

-What can I do?

I've taken a whole side of hake

and baked that in a hot oven with a little bit of water and butter for

about eight minutes and then just let it cool in the water and butter.

It now needs to be flaked so if you just take...

Oh, look, lovely.

It's actually very translucent.

When you're cooking fish for fishcakes, don't overcook it.

Hake, of all the fish,

will take a little bit more cooking than something like cod.

Cod, you would cook for six minutes.

A piece of hake, about eight minutes.

So what we're going to do is just enough mashed potato.

There's nothing in this mash. There's no cream or butter.

-Just enough that you can bind it together.

-Right.

-Freshly chopped parsley. In we go there.

-I'm not going to bind yet?

A little bit of seasoning, salt, some freshly ground black pepper.

If you could pass it because your hands are hakey. Mine aren't.

-And then a little bit of lemon zest.

-OK.

I'm not going to put an awful lot of flavouring in this

because I really want people to be able to taste the fish

and a little bit of the juice of the lemon as well. That's it.

It really is that simple.

Once again, you're doing all the hard work. I'm just standing with...

-No, you're going to do this.

-OK.

-I'm going to stand and watch

as you gently use your hands to bring it together.

-Feel the fish, feel the potatoes.

-I'm feeling the heat.

You're caressing them. You're not munching them.

You don't want to break down the hake too much.

You want to mix the whole thing together.

So I think actually if you carry on doing that,

I'll take these over and start cooking them. You carry on.

OK, no worries. In a loving way.

Most fishcakes would be covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried,

but these, we're doing them like a traditional Scottish soda scone.

We're just doing them in flour and then we'll cook them

on the griddle plate.

We'll just cook them for two or three minutes

until you get a nice little crust starting to form

-and there's no sizzle because it's griddling rather than frying.

-Yeah.

We should have a bit of colour on the outside.

-But do you see that scone-like look?

-Yes.

-That's what we're looking for.

-Don't they look delicious?

-They do look amazing, yeah, I have to say.

-Let's go.

-Will the public like hake cakes?

-Who knows?

Taste one. Tell me first of all if you like it.

Secondly, what fish it is.

-I'll try it. He's not a fish lover.

-Not a fish lover.

-Very fishy.

-I'll give you the ecstasy face. It's beautiful.

-Absolutely lovely.

-What do you think?

-I think it tastes great actually.

-Not much of a flavour.

-OK.

-Not a great taste.

-It depends what you add to it.

-What's this?

-Fishcake.

-This is a fishcake.

-So would you eat much fish at home?

-He's better looking in the flesh.

He's better looking in the flesh!

-Is it hake?

-What?!

Well done. You have a very educated palette. Yes, it is.

That means, everybody around here now knows exactly what it is.

Do you know, I don't like fishcake, but that's gorgeous. Ten out of ten.

-That's a result.

-You have a convert.

-That's a result.

OK, one sad cake left. What are we going to do, share it?

-I think we should share it.

-Right. I haven't tasted them so let's go.

-Well, yummy. Very good.

-Delicious.

-You've done an amazing job, can I just tell you?

-Thank you very much.

We've had a fantastic time here in Buchanan Street with the

Landward street food van, but we'll be back again later in the series.

Of course, if you've got something that you would like Nick to cook

then get in touch with us. Details are on our website.

After three days of gorging on seafood, it's almost time for the

buyers and sellers, along with the freeloading seafood

fanatics like me, to head back to Scotland.

But not before I've had a chance to catch up with some of those Scots

who have been visiting Brussels, including Magnus and Fiona

who Sarah met earlier.

This is the biggest seafood show in the world

and everyone is here including all the software guys.

From salmon to white fish to shell fish, it's all here,

it's all under nine buildings.

It's incredible how big it is, isn't it? It's just extraordinary.

-Yeah, I think we've probably done not even a quarter of it.

-I know.

We always seem to come back to the Scottish pavilion

and have a cup of tea.

I know, it's massive.

Also here is skipper Alan Addison who

we met landing his catch at Kinlochbervie.

-What have you thought so far of the show, Alan?

-The show's very good.

It's exceptional to see all the seafood.

It puts Scottish produce in perspective in a global scale.

Uh-huh.

We know our product's good, but it's got to step up to the mark

and be very good, excellent.

I think our product is better than anybody else's.

It's fresh, it's sustainable. Our stocks are super-healthy.

No, I think we have got the edge on a lot of the others here.

Wandering around here and talking to people, it's clear that,

despite being a small country,

we are doing pretty well in the seafood sector,

but with markets emerging all the time around the globe,

it's really important we continue to market our world-class produce.

Now I'm leaving and heading back to Scottish shores

for next week's programme.

Euan's back in the farmyard.

I'm in the lambing sheds with the world's ugliest sheep, the Texel.

-You might disagree.

-I think you'll find that's personal preference.

There's not a sheep can compete with it.

Sarah goes in search for a cure for a fatal horse disease.

It is one of the great unsolved mysteries of veterinary science

and a disease which, above all others, horse owners dread.

And we meet a young Scottish athlete who's covering

the miles in pursuit of gold.

So please join us for that

and much more at the slightly later time next Friday night 7.30pm

on BBC Two Scotland.

In the meantime, from all the Landward team here in Brussels,

thanks so much for your company. Bye for now.