The Snooty Fox Lobsters
Ever wondered how that mouth watering lobster served in The Snooty Fox gets to your plate?
The story starts in a picturesque corner of the UK on the North Welsh coast. Local lobster fisherman Sion Williams (who wrote the rules for the Welsh fisheries) was the subject of a photoshoot for Jude Edginton in a series about sustainable fishing. The date was 17th March 2020 and little did either know that the UK along with the rest of the world was about to go into lockdown.
A bond quickly formed between the unlikely duo, with Sion also facing financial disaster – heavy storms had been preventing him from making his catch, and now Covid 19 meant his export to China and Europe was closed, leaving him with no route to market.
At the time 90% of the shellfish caught in Welsh waters were exported, making Sion very vulnerable to situations outside the UK’s control. Sion told Jude: “Shortening the supply chains reduces carbon footprint. It make no sense exporting high quality seafood that is high in nutrients all over Europe and half way around the world when we could be eating it and benefiting economically and health wise consuming it within the UK.”
“Suddenly strangers got hold of this and were just sending me emails saying they had deposited money for lobsters into my account with their address.” Says Jude. “We then had the problem of collecting the Lobsters and delivering them live under global pandemic heavy lockdown. We opted for drop off points with the Giraffe House in Regents Park being a popular choice. 30 People lined up with masks as lobsters were passed out of the back of the car.”
Since then tons upon tons of lobsters have been sold and Lockdown Lobsters is now a fully limited company. They now ship lobsters next day to anyone from sea to front door in the UK within 24 hrs. The mission for Lockdown Lobsters is to continue beyond the pandemic. Through Sion’s network, they hope to work with other fishermen to maximise the opportunity of shortening supply chain and get the UK eating affordable and fresh native lobsters.
Lockdown Lobsters have gone from strength to strength and now supply restaurants across the UK including The Snooty Fox in Lowick.
Sion Williams is a third generation lobster fisherman, and his father still helps him get his boat out every day at a small natural cove on the Lynn Peninsular. He is on the Welsh Government’s Fisheries Management Group and a director of the Welsh Fishermen’s Association. He also works closely with Fisheries Enforcement to protect Welsh seas, and Bangor University on lobster and crab management projects.
Jude Edginton is a London based portrait photographer. Clients include Channel 4, The BBC, Adidas, Nike, Microsoft, Mobil 1, The Times Magazine, Shortlist, ESPN The Magazine, The Sunday Times, The New York Times. His subjects range from Gogglebox stars to Noel Gallagher and from Thierry Henry to Boris Johnson. He is a winner of the Picture Editor awards Magazine Photographer Of The Year and has twice been nominated for the British Press awards. judeedginton.com