A Cork-based seafood company, Paulona Seafoods Ltd, has launched Ireland’s first online seafood auction, enabling buyers to bid in real time for freshly caught Irish fish. The initiative aims to streamline the sale of seafood, improve price transparency, and expand market opportunities for Ireland’s fishing fleet.

The project was highlighted by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) — Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency — which said the platform opens new sales channels for fishermen while connecting them directly with international buyers.

Photo: Paulona Seafoods

The live online auction, operated from Cork, Ireland, currently runs twice a week — on Tuesdays and Fridays — and gives sellers access to approximately 260 buyers. The system directly links Irish fishermen to the French seafood market, where demand for fresh, high-quality whole fish remains strong.

Partnership With French Seafood Auction Network

The digital marketplace operates in partnership with the French seafood auction house CCI Finistere and is aligned with the Guilvinic auction in Brittany, France, one of several auction centers managed by the Finistere Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Photo: Paulona Seafoods

The platform represents a major new business direction for Joe Walsh, a second-generation seafood entrepreneur who founded Paulona Seafoods in 2001. His company has long supplied fresh Irish seafood to local and European markets.

Looking ahead, Walsh plans a major transformation of the company’s sales strategy.

By 2028, he aims for 95% of Paulona Seafoods’ sales to come through the online auction platform.

“It’s a change of mindset for fishermen and a change of direction for the Irish market – if every other European country is doing it, why are we not? We are in a very different place – even ten years ago, logistics were much more difficult and we didn’t have an online capacity. We are two full months [in business]. Two months in and 100% it works. If I’d thought of it earlier I would have gone with it two or three years ago when we had an awful lot more fish. But we were happy plodding along. We were all getting half decent prices. From a company perspective, we are solely 100% Irish fish. Without Irish fish we’re nothing. At the end of the day I’m no different to any other competitor, I have to think outside the box.”

Government and EU Funding Support Expansion

Paulona Seafoods received $195,600 in investment (converted from €179,425) through the Seafood Processing Capital Scheme to fund the software needed for the online auction platform and develop an in-house prawn-freezing facility designed to improve quality control and profitability.

The funding was supported by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund.

According to BIM Interim CEO Richard Donnelly, the initiative demonstrates the power of innovation within Ireland’s seafood sector.

“In a challenging market place, Paulona Seafoods, with Joe Walsh at the helm, is demonstrating the very best of entrepreneurial spirit. The ability to identify a new revenue stream for Irish landed fish, while simultaneously increasing visibility and driving stronger market prices, is a remarkable achievement. This kind of innovation, and way of thinking, is strengthening the position and reputation of Irish seafood in the global marketplace and setting a powerful example for how we can grow tomorrow.”

Vertically Integrated Model Supporting Local Fleet

The business model developed by Paulona Seafoods is vertically integrated, with more than 25 fishing vessels landing their catch directly for the company, a number the firm plans to increase.

Before each auction, landed fish are graded by quality and prepared for sale.

Photo: Paulona Seafoods

“The buyers have been more than impressed with the quality [of Paulona Seafoods’ fish]. We have two grades here – A and B. A is good quality and B is poorer quality and there’s E, that would be exceptional or excellent and is primarily for day catch fish – fair enough some of our boats have day catch fish, but the problem is it takes another 36 hours after they’re caught to get to France,” Walsh explained.

Photo: Paulona Seafoods

Family Roots in Ireland’s Seafood Industry

The Walsh family has deep roots in Ireland’s seafood sector. Joe Walsh’s father founded Ballycotton Seafoods in the 1980s, a seafood processing business now operated by Walsh’s brother.

Walsh credits early encouragement from Darina Allen and the late Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House and Cookery School for helping his father launch the original business.

“It was Ballymaloe cookery school who stemmed it off for Dad. He started buying fish initially. He started off small and interest evolved. Myrtle and Darina [Allen] put a fair stamp on what he was doing, and he opened up his first shop in 1985, and it grew from there on.”

                             

Vision to Sustain Ireland’s Fishing Heritage

For Walsh, the online auction represents more than a business innovation — it is also an effort to sustain Ireland’s fishing tradition for future generations.

“My want is for my kids to be a part of this. My Dad started this in the 80s. I want my kids to look back and to say ‘Dad started this all’. I’ve laid all my eggs in this basket, financially, physically, mentally…You speak to any of the inshore boats, they’re predominately shellfish, they haven’t had an outlet for other species, and because of that, they’re moving their kids away from the industry, and then you have the fishing industry being lost, the whole craft of it, it’s being lost. I hope that maybe they can have the want to bring their kids back to it. I have a ferocious grá for it, I love what I do.”