Q&A with Damian Sais, Elias Fish

Damian Sais, Founder of Elias Fish has been in the fish business for over 20 years and gets up every day at the crack of dawn to get the freshest catch for his customers. He has seen the landscape shift as our planet and customer habits have changed. Sea temperatures have massively affected the production of salmon in particular. Overfishing and an increased consumer drive towards being more sustainable have stirred up a lot recently, with Seaspiracy, the controversial documentary spotlighting the fishing industry, making waves when it was released and throwing the conversation wide open.

 Ahead of Supper at Sea, we wanted to get Damian’s take on the challenges the fishing industry faces, as well as really getting to grips with fish seasonality as this is a major focus for our supper club. We chat about the best catch from across the British Isles and what seafood can be enjoyed right now and into the autumn.

Following Seaspiracy or in fact generally speaking in recent months and years have you seen a decline in clients buying fish & seafood?

We lost some clientele and had a good few people coming in and talking about Seaspiracy right after it came out. Of course it illustrated a lot of valid points, but it is a hugely complex debate. Supermarkets are a big part of the problem, and a lot of their fish can actually be up to 15 days old. Fishmongery is very much my livelihood and my passion, and I’m dedicated to doing all we can to help the seas out while providing the best possible quality of fish and seafood. 

What are the challenges of being a wholesale fishmonger and how do you manage these when it comes to sustainability?

We can’t ignore or change the fact that we are supplying fish in quantity, but are extremely careful to only buy in what we need, so we can be zero waste. We don’t throw fish out - we give away trimmings to homeless charities and the bones to restaurants for stock.  

How can we eat fish sustainably? 

At Elias Fish, we don’t tend to stock fish that is out of season, only on request and at a price. Right now in August you have Dover sole, wild bass, monkfish, halibut from Scotland, mussels, clams, brill, plaice. Swordfish and tuna come with air miles attached, which push the price up, so both for sustainable and ethical reasons we try to keep things to all British & European fish primarily.  

What seafood & fish should we be celebrating and can eat sustainably from British shores? 

I love sardines - I just have them raw with a quick squeeze of lemon juice & salt. Handline-caught mackerel and Cornish hake are also great.