In what we hope is a regular slot, Rye News is planning to introduce our readers to the extraordinary lives of people in our community doing ordinary- or extraordinary work for us. Our first extraordinary person? Meet Ben Griffin.
Ben is one of Rye’s fishermen, and his boat “EllieBet” can be seen parked up on Simmons Quay. He comes from generations of fishing men. He mainly fishes for whelk, and has 300 “whelk bucket traps” on lines just off the Hastings shore. His family make the buckets themselves, using plastic barrels with netting sewn over the openings. Crab and huss are used as bait- evidently whelk won’t be interested unless there is this mix… A big percent of the market is now in Asia.
Fishing days begin early if the tide is with him. The day we met, he had left home at 3am. He is down at the boat by 3:30, and out on the river by 4am. Whatever time he starts, given the tide, he always has to leave and return on a high tide – so 8-12 hour days. The weather (wind) can work against him and the boat. The last few weeks’ wind has been bad for whelk fishing – with wind blowing almost all the catch back out of the buckets. So Ben sets targets every week, and needs to keep fishing – sometimes every day – until he achieves this. The other challenge for Rye fisherman is the sea fog. It can suddenly engulf a boat on the river and forces Ben to navigate using radar which is really tricky, given the changing depths of the channels.
Ben has been fishing his whole life – from six years old, going out with the local fishermen on weekends fishing from Hastings beach. His boat was called “The Two Brothers”, and his family would push the boat by hand up and down the beach themselves. He would get £5 for doing the cleaning of the boat on these weekends, and his love for the sea and fishing developed from this experience. His dad was also a gamekeeper, and when not fishing, Ben learned from his father how to hunt with ferrets, how to shoot, and how to manage the land.
Ben left school at 14, and already knew he wanted to follow his father and become a fisherman. He went down to the boats in Hastings, and immediately got a job crewing for the fishing industry. (A little bit of interesting history: The boat he first worked on was the one used in Rye’s Guy Fawkes’ bonfire last year!) His dad has always told him “Be the best you can be at any job you take up”. For Ben, that’s driven him to focus, work the long hours, and achieve. He believes, too, in sustainability, and reading nature to know what is manageable. Rye Fishermen know, traditionally, “Cod in the winter. Dover sole in the summer. Mackerel and herring in the Autumn….” In other words, fish is seasonal, and respect that. He is adamant about putting back, for example, the largest lobster or too small a bass if caught- his philosophy is let it go to replenish the stock for the next generation.
12 years ago, Ben was fishing for herring and mackerel. However, the lack of British demand for these fish took its toll, he couldn’t make any money and he had to switch his focus. Four years ago, he found a shell of a boat, and he has spent two years rigging her himself, using the engineering skills he learned from his dad. EllieBet / RX 90, is a combined named after his Business Partner’s daughter and his own daughter.
Whilst she took two years to get ready, it was another 12 months of paperwork and inspections before the government issued the licenses Ben needed to begin fishing. For all fishermen each license they need for each specific fish or shell fish are expensive. If Ben wanted to focus instead on a main catch of lobster or crab, he would have to apply for an additional license costing thousands of pounds.
Life is hard and Ben knows plenty of families who have reached the last generation. Government licensing and health legislation are making this last generation quit earlier than they might have planned, and this includes his own father now planning to retire early. New “Fit to Fish” legislation has been brought in to help the fishing community, with added resources such as community nurses to provide support. However, Fit to Fish has also meant tighter health checks for fishing licensing.
Brexit, of course, has also taken its toll. British fisherman supported Brexit – with a vision of “taking back the channel” in their minds. However, for at least the next year, European and even Russian Trawlers- massive in size and with enormous dredging equipment are clearing out all life in the sea. So benefits are yet to happen. Ben’s focus on whelk has meant he fishes closer to shore (about 1 ½ miles out) and actually has not been hardest hit by this massive fishing dilemma.
Ben talks with fishermen from other countries regularly. And their own methods and ideas for sustainability he thinks could be used by the British. For instance, Norwegian fisherman were telling him they have increased the size of the holes in their nets to 8-10 inches- which means smaller fish don’t get caught any more.
Ben’s wife Kayla has been key to his success. They have 5 children, and at least one of his sons is already interested in carrying on the family tradition of fishing. The kids all swim well, and he is also teaching them how to hunt, and how to appreciate nature’s cycles of the land. Kayla took on extra work when fishing has proved unprofitable. With the children older, she has now re-trained and works at Chapmans prepping and selling fish. With family and friends working alongside them, it’s a close-knit, supportive community. And the evenings? The family can have lots of the whelk pots lined up in the living room – mending and making new ones, and sewing the netting to the plastic barrels.
Quick answer questions:
Why do you do what you do? Being out on the river coming into or out of Rye. You can’t beat it. Magic.
What do you hunt on land? Woodpigeon. Brilliant to eat. It's something I can do with the kids.
Favourite pet? In the past, I have bred lurchers for hunting. My best was Sally- she died last year aged 12. The best at pest control/ rabbiting.
Favourite dinner: No, it’s not fish – probably steak and kidney pie! But fish is a close second- hake, fried, with salad in a tortilla wrap. Delicious.
Best thing about Rye is? Where the boat is berthed. Electric hoists for lifting the catch. Everything you need.
Recent touch of fame? Taking the TV chef Marcus Wareing out for a day of mackerel fishing. (It will be on TV later this year.)
First love? Kayla. We met 15 years ago on Hastings Beach. I was working that day- So I was probably wet through after fishing, and I had one shoe lace tied with a pink trawler line. But we immediately connected. She’s got 300 years of fishing in her family- the Adams’ of Hastings. She understands me. And knows what I need and why fishing is so important for my health.
Significant childhood memory? When I was 9 out hunting with my dad, I got bitten really badly on my hand by a ferret. The wound got sore, and when I went to school on the Monday, I was on the ground playing marbles, when my teacher grabbed my hand to get me up and into class. With the pain, I just reacted- giving a swing with my other fist… and it led to me being taken infront of the Headmaster, and told to walk home. My dad arranged home schooling until I was 11. And, I learned so much those 2 years – mostly the practical side of fishing -including engineering, how to fix things, what to look for in nature…My passion for the land and the sea really began during that time.
Dream? To be able to afford to live in Rye.
Final note to our readers: If you know of someone you think would be a great example for an article in this series, please contact Rye News. We would love to speak with them.
