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Down The Cove standards

Editorial and fact-checking policy

Our guides should help someone fish, crab, smoke food, cook seafood or choose a coastal gift with more confidence. This is how we keep that advice identifiable, reviewable and honest.

Shop recommendations stay with Down the Cove

Our product recommendations link to items sold by Down the Cove, not competing retailers. We retain accurate manufacturer names and do not claim compatibility we have not verified. External references serve evidence, safety or local visitor information; our own marketplace profiles are labelled as such.

Useful before lengthy

We start with the decision a reader is trying to make. Extra words are not a substitute for a clear answer, a practical comparison or a safer next step.

Product claims checked

Compatibility, included items, variants and availability are checked against the current catalogue. Product pages remain the final source for live price and stock.

Safety claims sourced

Food, water, wildlife and fishing-rule guidance links to the relevant UK authority where the subject can change or has a meaningful safety consequence.

Dates mean something

A last-reviewed date is changed only after the article's practical claims, links and commercial recommendations have been checked—not by an automatic site-wide timestamp.

Commerce kept in proportion

A guide may recommend suitable products, but we do not force a product into every section, hide an unsuitable alternative or create near-duplicate pages simply to target another phrase.

Who writes and reviews

Priority buying guides are written by the Down The Cove Editorial Team, the content function of our family-run Cornish coastal shop. Product-led claims are checked by the named Down The Cove product review shown on the article. Safety and regulatory claims are checked against the linked authority; we do not present the shop as a medical, legal or regulatory body.

Automated tools may assist with research organisation, formatting and visual development. They do not replace the source check, and we do not publish invented first-hand experience, credentials, reviews or safety claims.

Preferred UK sources

Local harbour notices, landowner permissions and regional rules can still apply. Readers should check the authority for the place and date of their activity.

Corrections and review cycle

We review priority commercial guides when a product range changes, a cited authority updates material guidance, a broken recommendation is reported or performance evidence suggests the page no longer answers its intended question.

If something looks wrong, send the page URL and the specific claim through our contact page. We will check the source, correct confirmed errors and update the review date only after the article has genuinely been checked.