England’s Seafood FEAST returns from 29 September to 15 October and is a chance to experience some of the best seafood in the world in venues across the English Riviera, which is known as England’s Seafood Coast.

In the lead-up to England’s Seafood FEAST, we will be meeting some of the “Faces of the Feast” to find out what they have in store for they have in store for this year’s event and why this stretch of coast is really worth celebrating.

Today we chat with Frazer Pugh from the Hand Picked Scallop Company, who dives for scallops that are then sold to chefs and fishmongers across the UK.

What do you love about the waters along what has been dubbed England's Seafood Coast? 

I love the diversity of life that lives on our coastline. I make my living below the waves, so get the unique opportunity to see a lot of marine life on a daily basis. 

A real buzzword at this year's festival is sustainable fishing. How important is this to you?

To me, sustainability in fishing goes further than whether a single species will remain a viable commercial commodity. It is just as much about what detrimental effect catching that one species has on the marine environment as a whole. For example, are we causing damage to the habitat to catch it? Are we taking the food source of another species to the point that said species is declining? But most importantly, is it morally correct? The reality is for something to be truly sustainable; we need to look at the bigger picture, rather than focusing on the narrow point of what suits us.

Why is diving for scallops by hand making a difference? 

Scallops are an extremely abundant and successful breeding species that reaches maturity quickly. Removing them from the habitat while leaving a viable amount, allows the bed to replenish quickly. Diving for them is a way of catching a very popular seafood without causing any damage to the habitat and without any bycatch. Whilst we are down there, we also fish for plastic rubbish and ghost fishing gear, which helps to keep the reef healthy.

Where do you get the scallops from and how deep do you have to dive?

We dive between Lyme Regis and Start Point and the depths range from 10 to 29 meters.

How many scallops can you collect in a day and where are they sold on to

We catch around 2000 scallops per fishing day. A portion of them go to ethical wholesalers, some go direct to restaurants around the country and the rest we process and go to our public home delivery, which is available country-wide, through our market on Facebook and Instagram. @frazers_scallops

You are teaming up for a Meet the Maker with Simon Hulstone. What can we expect at this event?

From Simon, you can expect some of the best food you have ever tasted, including our scallops prepared in a few different ways. From me, an insight into scallop diving with some long tangents about reefs, diving and my love for marine life. Find out about this event here.

What can those of us who love seafood do to help protect our local waters? 

Find out how the fish that you eat is caught and only consume low-impact methods. Ask the restaurants where the fish comes from, they should be able to trace it back to the boats it came from. If they can’t, then this is a red flag. Another small easy thing we can all do is pick up any plastic rubbish we come across before it finds its way into the sea.

Discover the full England’s Seafood Feast programme of events