A friend calls me from Hastings to tell me about the turbot she bought from a fisherman that morning, £15 for a two-kilo fish. I gasp.

A friend calls me from Hastings to tell me about the turbot she bought from a fisherman that morning, £15 for a two-kilo fish. I gasp. Turbot is a monarch among fish; one that size would normally retail for at least sixty quid. But the fish business has come to a virtual standstill. Social distancing is not easy on the larger boats, so they are not going out to fish.

The smaller, short-trip fishing boats, known as day boats, have little market for their higher quality, extra fresh fish because the European buyers who will pay more for it are taking none at all. The wholesale fish markets are closed; the auctions, the ice producers and transporters have all been parked for now. The fishing business is at a standstill – and no one is talking about rescue.

Why, when the fishing industry provokes similar emotion to mining, is the government not talking about keeping the fleet afloat, as it were? We are supposed to feel strongly about the welfare of our fishermen, yet it seems that British consumers are unwilling to do much to help. The varieties of fish we eat in the largest quantities are imported: cod and haddock from Iceland; salmon from Alaska and Norway; tuna and tiger prawns from Asia. Our best home-gathered fish is sold to the French, Spanish and Japanese; a tiny quantity is taken by UK fish shops and restaurants – all now closed.

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