More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A fisherman is serving up freshly caught fish from the surrounding waters of the Thanet coast and delivering them to people stuck at home, as the coronavirus lockdown measures continue.
Olly Swift, 24, from Ramsgate, offered his services on Facebook on Sunday and was surprised at how many people were interested.
He said: "People are loving fish at the moment, it's kind of the elder generation though, not really people my age.
"Young people, they prefer a burger or a KFC, they don't want a nice prepared fresh fish.
"I'm trying to open it up a bit more, show people how prime and fresh it can be."
Olly has been fishing as long as he can remember, having learnt the trade with his family as a child and then working in different waters across the UK.
Despite the lockdown measures, he classes himself as a key worker so can go about his usual everyday routine of skippering boats, but makes sure he follows the social distancing guidance when interacting with customers at their doorsteps.
He said : "I wear my gloves to people's doors, I give them their distance, but I can still drive to the boat and get out there."
With many fish counters in local supermarkets closed since the national lockdown, there are few other ways to get unpackaged fresh fish.
Currently the fisherman is catching sole, skate, flat fish like plaice, bass, lobsters and even the occasional crab.
Whilst some of the fish can be caught closer to land, Olly said he has to travel about 25 miles northeast from Whitstable harbour to catch the sole.
When he makes a catch, he washes them down, guts them and put into ice storage boxes before taking them back to land.
He said: "Straight from the boat, straight to your plate, in the space of less than ten hours."
The fisherman is offering deliveries of the fresh produce to residents across the entire Thanet area.
Olly is asking people from the area to drop him a message on Facebook if they are interested in getting fish delivered to their door.
Fishing is often forgotten about as an existing trade in Kent, but people like Olly are keeping the business alive.
Last year, KentOnline took a trip with a fisherman from Whitstable who spends much of his working day trawling for the town's the famous oysters.
