‘Fishing is a way of getting as close to nature as you can,” says Jim Robinson, the general manager of the Loch Fyne restaurant, in Walton Street, Oxford. Jim has been working with Loch Fyne for several years. He believes that his love of fishing and his extensive knowledge about fish means he is well placed to ensure his customers get nothing but the best.

He boasts that he took his first fishing trip the moment he was old enough to hold a fishing rod without dropping it, when a fish appeared on his line.

Jim admits that it was just a tourist boat, which took visitors for an hour’s trip around the bay of the South Wales village of Saundersfoot, but, as he said, you have to start somewhere.

“My family always took the annual holiday in Saundersfoot, so each year I got to learn more and more about fishing.

“We started by just feathering for mackerel. They are not an intelligent fish, so they are easily fooled when they spot a feather on the end of a line moving over the surface of the sea,” he said.

As he grew older, his fishing skills developed and his trips out to sea became longer.

“I remember one time in my early teens, when I went out on a boat with the family and came back with more than 400 mackerel which had all been line caught. Everyone on the campsite where we stayed ate well that night,” he said proudly.

At the age of 14, Jim asked one of the captains if he could become a member of his crew during the holidays.

His request was greeted favourably and he spent an idyllic summer helping out, first on the hourly day trips and then later on the larger boats where he was able to participate in deep sea fishing for six to eight hours at a time.

“I did that for four years, I was at sea so long my parents hardly saw me during the holidays. Then, when I reached 18 I was invited to join the whelk boats, which went 25 miles out.

“Those trips took us out for at least 17 hours and were simply amazing. On the way out we laid the pots, which are similar to those used to catch lobsters. I was the riddler, which meant sorting out the undersized whelks and throwing them back into the sea.

“We would collect between four and eight tons of whelks on these trips, most of which went to Germany and Spain. Only about a quarter of the catch went to Billingsgate.”

Jim accepts that when it came to deciding on his future, he was torn between going to sea or attending university.

In the end, he opted for a business and IT course at Swansea University, using the cash he had earned during his fishing trips to help fund his studies.

Now he is general manager of a restaurant that specialises in fish, he believes he made the right choice, as he spends every day of his annual holidays at sea and his working days handling thing he loves most – fish.

“All those summers that I spent on the fishing boats means I know a great deal about fish. I certainly know what to look for when inspecting fish. Eyes, texture and smell say everything.

“The eyes must be bright, the texture firm and the smell – well, actually there is no smell to a freshly-caught fish. They only begin to smell when the days between being caught and eaten widen.

“If you walk into a seafood restaurant that smells of fish, the fish they are serving is not as fresh as it should be,” he said.

Jim is proud that the fish served at Loch Fyne is as fresh as it can be, given that land-locked Oxford is about as far away from the sea as place town can be.

“We get deliveries of fresh fish, from sustainable catches delivered overnight. We don’t do frozen and we have taken tuna off the menu. We have taken whole plaice and monkfish off the menu too.

Loch Fyne began life as a small oyster shack on the main West highland road at the head of Loch Fyne. Now there are 49 Loch Fyne restaurants serving not just oysters, but mussels that are harvested in the loch, as well as langoustines.

A smokehouse that stands on the edge of the loch processes the salmon.

Jim pointed out that the company’s motto is ‘Nach Urramach an Cuan,’. This Gaelic saying means ‘How worthy of honour is the sea,’ which encapsulates the way Loch Fyne run their companies.

“Given my love of fishing and the sea, I am proud to be associated with a company which has the same respect for sustainable fishing and the sea as I have.

“Every fish that leaves our shops and kitchens is cultivated, farmed or fished in accordance with the company’s strict environmental guidelines,” he added.

Jim leaves Oxford for his annual leave shortly. Naturally, he plans to spend the time fishing.

“This way I get the best of both worlds, as this sort of holiday retains my link with the sea, in the knowledge that I have a great job linked with fish when the holiday is over.

‘There is something magical about fishing if done in a sustainable way – there is something magical about being out at sea too. The peace and quiet is amazing and the excitement of catching a fish, something that’s difficult to explain.

“I just love those times when there is just me, the fish and the sea.

“Then there’s that mouth-watering moment, when on landing the catch, I can light up a barbecue and cook up a meal on the shore.

“Nothing tastes better than a barbecued fish,” he said.