Dan the Fishman is known to many as a happy face selling fish from the back of his van. But behind the fun side, there’s a passionate campaigner
If a Hollywood director was casting around for someone to play a salty, son-of-the sea, then one imagines Dan Garnett wouldn’t even need to audition. The beard, the jaunty captain’s cap, the yellow apron and the stripy shirt…he’s got the look down to a tee.
And yet Dan is no cartoon character. Although you won’t spend long in his presence without laughing at his mischievous sense of humour, soon the talk turns serious as he wages his campaign to promote the benefits of cooking and eating British seafood.
Known in the South West as ‘Dan the Fishman’, he’s a familiar presence across the region, selling fish from the back of his small van. But that is just the sharp end of a major operation spearheaded by Dan which is helping to promote the region’s fishing industry.
And it’s all done from the picturesque north Devon seaside village of Appledore, as Dan explains: “We secured Government funding and managed to create Appledore Fish Dock, where the fishermen have a proper facility to land their catch and get it to market. I am very proud to see it working so well.”
Indeed Dan is a major customer of the fish dock, rising in the wee small hours most days at his home along the coast in Clovelly in order to check on the catch coming in and stock up his van. He’ll then head for his regular market spots w
