Suffolk farmers plan major expansion of fishing venture

The Simper family - based at Ramsholt - has been farming for 10 generations. But when Harry Simper - now aged 28 - left school his heart was set on a life at sea.

As they live on the banks of the River Deben, the Simpers, of Lodge Farm, have always combined their farming life with sailing and fishing.

Robert Simper - Harry's grandfather now aged 85 - sailed and fished on the river in the 1950s.

Now his son, Jonathan, and grandson, Harry, want to invest in a full-scale fishing venture, building on the business which they have been developing since Harry left school.

In order to fund the major expansion, they are aiming to sell 110 acres of asparagus-growing land along with a section of beach through land agents Landbridge. Since the sale was launched there has been a lot of interest from potential buyers, said Jonathan.

However, the family will keep the farmhouse and farm buildings and a good-sized river frontage at Rocks Beach. They will also retain about 38 acres of farmland and woodland - including a 10-acre asparagus field.

The base for the business will remain at Ramsholt where it all started 12 years ago when Harry was 16.

The family started a shellfish business selling oysters and mussels and by the age of 17, Harry was equipped with a small wooden commercial fishing boat to begin his venture.

"We have kept boats on the beach and moorings off the beach for roughly 65 years," explained Jonathan.

"By 2019 we had four small commercial fishing boats fishing off the beach at Aldeburgh. We then moved to operating a slightly larger boat from Southwold which is what we were doing when lockdown first occurred in early 2020.

"Unlike almost all other fish markets in the country Lowestoft market shut for the duration of lockdown and we didn’t have anywhere to sell the fish.

"We also stopped at that point producing oysters and mussels because of social distancing and the pubs being shut."

However, said Jonathan, they would like to return to producing shellfish at some point as the River Deben is "ideal for shellfish production".

The family founded and ran the Woodbridge Shuck Shellfish Festival until the outbreak of Covid in 2020 - underlining their commitment to the industry.

"It’s a very clean river and in over 10 years of having the water tested every month for hygiene while we were producing shellfish, we were never once stopped from selling our shellfish due to any bacterial or hygiene problems. Few people seem to be aware of this fact," said Jonathan.

"We are passionate about producing local food and are looking forward to getting back into local shellfish production."

"Because of the closure of Lowestoft market during Covid we put a post on Facebook asking if anybody wanted a box of 10 portions of fish prepared for cooking for £20 and we were inundated with requests.

"We had two vans running full time and I know one day we did 80 deliveries in a day. They were extraordinary times."

The family hoped the home delivery service would be something they could retain after Covid but - even though a lot of people said how marvellous it was - orders dried up abruptly when lockdown was lifted, and they went back to selling to the markets.

The Simpers run two trawlers and are planning to get larger vessels so they can operate a fleet of three or four within the next couple of years.

They currently own the Boy Michael (CK109), the Buster Boy (RX33), the Carol Louise (LI10)  and Jonathan's own sailing smack, the Mary Amelia, which he used for the shellfish operation. He hopes to be able to use it again when they are able to restart the shellfish.

Harry skippers  the largest vessel of the two - the Boy Michael - and specialises in targeting Dover sole.

"Setting fishing gear up to efficiently catch Dover sole is a surprisingly intricate art and we are constantly learning but we've certainly come a long way in the last couple of years," explained Jonathan.

But recruitment is a problem - as the hours are uncertain and the work challenging, he added.

"It’s not always particularly easy to find skippers and crews for vessels. This is a problem with fishing. It’s dangerous and hard work with long hours in all weathers.

"We are very keen to give young skippers and crew a chance to get a foothold in the industry and work with hard-working young people.

"We're very lucky to have some who are interested in working with us in the future.

"It’s not a job - it’s a way life. If you ask most people what they’ll be doing the end of this week they’ll probably consult some sort of diary.

"If you asked my son what he’s doing the end of this week he’ll look at the weather forecast on his phone and then tell you what he’s likely to be doing.

"You could leave port this morning sometimes and  end up coming back an hour later because you’ve had a problem or you might be at sea for 36 hours.

"It doesn’t really fit into people’s modern way of living. Despite this it is a very rewarding lifestyle if you accept it for what it is.

"We probably find this easier to accept than most because we farmed for 10 generations so we’ve been brought up with that sort of attitude.

"When you’re a farmer, if the cattle get out - whatever time or of day and night it is - you just have to go and sort the situation out. When you live on a farm you’re never really off-duty."

The Simpers invested in a major - and costly - six-month refit of the Boy Michael this year at Suffolk Yacht Harbour in Levington Marina near Ipswich.

Despite the cost, this turned out to be a good investment as it has hugely improved the productivity of the vessel, said Jonathan.

"It's one of the things that made us realise if we're going to do the job properly and have good 10m fishing boats which are powerful enough and serviceable enough to fish commercially we're going to need a large financial investment.

"This is the future my son wants and I've always said if you're the current custodian of a family business it's pointless unless you point the business in the direction that the next generation wants to go."