What a nice Guy

Being married to an underwater photographer doesn't come with many perks but getting to meet author-turned-fisherman, Guy Grieve - and have him cook freshly-caught scallops he'd just collected by hand - was definitely one.

Guy has all the essentials on his forty year old fishing boat - a two-ring stove, a frying pan, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Perfect for rustling up the tastiest food in the world - pan-fried scallops. Having said that, I found that they taste pretty amazing raw too.

When you see the damage caused by dredging/trawling, buying only hand-dived scallops is a no-brainer.

As Guy said, "Scallops aren't meant to be some cheap food in the frozen food section of a supermarket. They should be caught in an ethical, sustainable way and the smaller ones should be re-seeded immediately." This approach may come with a higher price tag - but it's a price worth paying because the alternative of more dredging doesn't bear thinking about.

Thanks Guy, for taking us out on your boat - and thanks for cooking for us too!

For details of how to buy ethically-caught seafood, visit www.ethicalshellfishcompany.co.uk or, you live near a Booth's supermarket, pop in and buy some of Guy's hand-dived scallops.

Look out for Richard's article about scallop-diving coming soon.