How lobsters could help claw in tourists

BRIDLINGTON TOUTED AS ‘LOBSTER CAPITAL OF EUROPE’

HOLIDAYS on the East Yorkshire coast might become too expensive for some tourists – but there are plans to reel in more visitors with local lobster tasting.

East Riding Council’s Environment and Regeneration Sub-committee heard the cost of living crisis might result in tourists cutting trips to Bridlington and similar coastal resorts.

On the flip side, councillors also heard tourists who would typically go abroad may opt for holidays on the East Yorkshire coast if the popularity of staycations due to coronavirus continues.

It comes as councillors were briefed on ongoing work to tackle economic and social inequalities in towns on the East Yorkshire coast with the hope tourism could fuel regeneration. One idea is to promote Bridlington as the lobster capital of Europe through the Bridlington Bay initiative.

The council and others have invested more than £100,000, including spending on events such as pop-up lobster tasting and the Bridlington Bay Lobster Roadshow set for this summer and autumn. The initiative aims for the local fishing industry to supply restaurants with their catch, 80 per cent of which is exported overseas where it fetches a higher price.

The committee heard the council was trying to get restaurants and food vendors to sell cuts of lobster rather than whole portions to make them more affordable. But vendors said they lack the means to separate lobsters out into smaller portions – with the preference being for improving frozen storage to help grow stocks.

A report submitted to the committee stated that 300 tonnes of lobster worth more than £4m was brought to shore in Bridlington in 2019. But it also stated much of the lobster consumed in Bridlington was imported from Canada and most of its catch being exported meant it was not fulfilling its potential locally.

The report warned the pandemic’s knock to the fishing industry and uncertainties around Brexit raised serious concerns for the lobster strategy. Efforts to get Bridlington Bay off the ground through a local festival were previously scuppered by Covid, meaning it was now starting from scratch.

It comes amid what committee member Cllr Terry Gill described as a backdrop of deprivation that continues to hamper Bridlington and the coast. The committee heard Bridlington, Hornsea, and Withernsea, along with coastal towns across the country, suffered from persistent health, employment and other inequalities.