Last month (March 2020) saw all restaurants in the UK and most of Europe shut their doors, leaving local fishermen with no trade and the population in lockdown.

Now, when the fishermen return to Poole Quay with their daily catch, the details are uploaded to the website www.bhfish.co.uk as well as to Facebook and Instagram pages.

The ‘Catch of the Day’ can be seen at the top right of the home page and that shows each of the daily availability. Customers can order fresh fish and shellfish which is delivered straight to the door. Under the current social distancing measures, the delivery drivers telephone on arrival and leave the order on the door step. Deliveries are made on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, between 1pm and 5pm and collections can be made 7 days a week from The Crown Hotel, 23 Market Street, Poole, BH15 1NB.

​​Fish is caught in Poole Bay and Poole Harbour by local fishermen using sustainable, low impact fishing methods. Lobster and crab are caught in Poole Bay and the oysters, cockles and clams from inside the harbour.

“On Good Friday we completed our first deliveries of 50 orders and we’re delighted to say we had 50 happy customers,” said John Morgan. “The orders included lobster, crab, sea bass, sole, mullet and more, all  caught locally.

“We’re already working with some local businesses and we’re inviting anyone else who wants to join forces with us to do so, during these times of uncertainty. We’ve already got Sean Cooper and Denise Wedlake from The Crown Hotel in Poole on hand to fillet fish and pre-cook lobsters and crabs, prior to delivery. Dorset wines from both English Oak and Furleigh Estate, as well as BH1 Gin and Conker Gin are also available to order and there are filleting knives, fishbone tweezers, shellfish crackers, available to purchase from the website as well.

“We are adding easy to follow recipes, and the plan is to add, ‘how to’ demonstration videos, to teach preparation and cooking tips for your freshly caught seafood and we are going to add a forum to the site, so everyone can share their recipes and ideas. We hope to add more to the site in due course.

“We look forward to seeing how our customers get on with re-creating their own quality dishes at home, whilst maximising the use of local produce, and their love of cooking and having fun.

“For us, a major part of our mission is to help the local community and we also want to ensure that the UK recovers from this pandemic, by working together and by trying to ensure that isolation can be more bearable”.