The inaugural auction of a £51 million north-east fishing facility has been marked a success.
A £130 box of cod marked the first sale as Peterhead Fish Market, in Alexandra Basin, celebrated the opening of its doors.
The market upgrade has created space for 10,000 boxes of fish, a deeper harbour, 24 hour refrigeration and larger walkways for pallets and fork lifts.
The Peterhead Port Authority also announced a donation of £1000 to be shared by the RNLA and the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.
CEO of Peterhead Port Authority, Simon Brebner said: “The feedback from our customers is so positive and unbelievable.
“It’s a state of the art facility, definitely breaking new ground and we can now do so much more than we used to be able to.
“The best thing is there’s more space so fish can be better displayed meaning the quality can be easily seen.”
Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid said the development will provide ‘significantly more capacity’.
He said: “Once we leave the EU, our fishermen have the opportunity to secure a fairer share of the catch from the North Sea.
“That will require increased capacity here in the north-east, both for the catching and processing sectors.
“This new market in Peterhead is an important step forward in improving local infrastructure and capitalising on the expected growth in the industry.”
The room was a hive of activity, with many buyers and sellers walking around examining the produce on offer.
John Wallace, Peterhead Port Authority consultant, said: “I think it’s a very proud day for Peterhead as we now have one of, if not the finest fish market in Europe.
“The lighting is wonderful, the space is more than adequate, more fish on display and this means people can get better prices as the boxes are well seen.
“We planned this in 2012 before we knew we were coming out of Europe and now we can promote our reputation as first and foremost a world class fishing port.”
The facility has space for 20 lorries and has larger walkways to minimise minor injuries.
Quality adviser for the port, Allison Sherrington said: “There’s a couple of little things the guys are still getting used to since everything is still so new.
“This market will last longer than the last.
“We also have a room upstairs so the kids can come to see the market, the buying, selling and the fish and have somewhere for lunch.
“Our next steps are to be made British Retail Consortium standard, it’s a lot of paperwork but we’re almost there.”
An official opening will take place in September.
