Our Story
george theze
Just 21 years of age and fresh out of college, we decided to swap the traditional career path for the early mornings and salty air of the fish market. What started as a passion project has quickly turned into a growing business—and we’re just getting started.
We’re hands-on with every part of the business, from sourcing the best catch of the day to serving our customers with a personal touch. For us, it’s not just about selling fish; it’s about building something of our own, creating jobs in our community, and redefining what it means to be a modern fishmonger.
George of Fins & Scales took over the well established and very reputable 'Hermans Plaice' over the Christmas period of 2024.
With Hermans Plaice being so reputable and respected within the industry we knew we had big boots to fill. Both from a fishing background we were able to come together with the aligned goal of providing Michelin Star Quality Fish, sourced directly from the fishing decks and fishing auctions, onto our counter and into homes around the country.
Local Sourcing
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Low Impact Fishing Methods
Small, family fishing boats provide autonomous jobs, preserve heritage and help build interesting, vibrant communities. The small boats also catch lots of different species that are non-quota, meaning no rules on how many can be caught, so there’s less waste. On the whole, they tend to use low-impact methods – hand lines and set nets with buoys and weights (rather than dragging trawl nets across the sea be), and pots to catch crabs and lobsters.
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Supporting Local Communities
Supporting small-scale, sustainable fishing communities can stop the oceans from being emptied by industrial fishing – and boost local economies that have been forgotten for decades.
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Keeping Carbon Footprint Low
Strategically situated on Standards Quay, our prime location ensures a seamless offload for the catch of Kentish fishermen. From boat to counter in record time, drastically reducing food miles and keeping our carbon footprint to an all time low whilst we work towards a carbon neutral network.
We, at Fins & Scales, source the vast majority of our fish and seafood from a fleet of day boats around the local Standards Quay area.
'Day Boats' is the term for vessels who go out and back on the same tide thus massively reducing the time spent at sea in comparison to the larger Trawler fishing boats who go on 7-10 day trips
With this we're able to provide a much fresher product into your home at a much more competitive rate by avoiding hefty transport costs when bringing more northern fish down.
Being smaller, day boats are unable to use the larger beam trawler nets and more commonly stick to a rod and line method of fishing which is a much more sustainable and controlled way of fishing as you're able to specifically target a species as opposed to hauling whats been caught in the net. However, this is not to say that trawling is an unsustainable way of fishing as different sized nets are used in order to allow the smaller fish to escape.
Fisherman are farmers, preserving next years catch.