Girl Ashore Terry Coglan (on the left)

Fresh Fish from the Girls and Boys Ashore

Regular reader Rhian White emailed HOT today to ask about how to get fresh fish delivered to her door… Erica Smith rung around to offer Rhian some options.

Right at the beginning of lockdown, HOT’s Chandra Masoliver ran a feature about Rob and Paul Stanley who are keeping their dad’s fish hut open whilst ‘Mick The Fish’ is self-isolating at home. The brothers are also happy to deliver fish if you are unable to visit the stall. You can read Chandra’s article here.

Another option is to buy from Girl Ashore Terry Coglan – her fish hut is number 5 and is on the beach opposite the East Hill Lift, just by the Rock-a-Nore car park. As a service to customers who are self-isolating during lockdown, if you live in Hastings and spend £10 or more, she will deliver your order to you between 4.30 and 5pm after she’s cleaned and shut up the hut.

Terry explained to me that in exchange for helping the fishing boats get on and off the beach, the Boy’s (and Girl) Ashore are paid by the fishermen in ‘stalker’ – 30 kilos of fish a day – which they are allowed to sell from their huts. ‘Tel’s Plaice’ sells the local seasonal fish straight from the boat. Obviously that means that you are not going to be able to get salmon, but you are supporting  the local fishing community and getting fresh, healthy food at an affordable price.

I asked her how lockdown had affected fish sales. She said that because all the restaurants are closed, their regular sales have been down, but new customers have been discovering that they can buy fresh fish straight from the fishing boats. Read another HOT article about how the fishing industry has been adversely affected by Covid-19 here.

Let’s hope that people will carry on supporting the fishing community by continuing to buy from them when ‘normal life’ is resumed.

Tel’s Plaice, Hut 5 by the Rock-a-Nore car park, is open from 9am to 4pm and you can call her on 07727 245740 to place an order for delivery.

Rock-a-Nore Fisheries at 2 Rock-a-Nore Road and Arcade Fisheries in Queen’s Arcade in the town centre are also open and offer a delivery service.

Also in: Fishing