Home   News   Article

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP calls for feedback from fishing industry over export crisis


By Alan Hendry

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
The Scottish seafood sector is reported to be losing £1 million a day.
The Scottish seafood sector is reported to be losing £1 million a day.

North MP Jamie Stone is urging everyone in the fishing industry caught up in the post-Brexit crisis to get in touch so he can confront the UK government over their experiences.

He says the fishing industry is "drowning in a Tory-made crisis", with the Scottish seafood sector reported to be losing £1 million a day.

Mr Stone has set up a web page and is calling for feedback from those affected by the border delays which have effectively brought the vital export trade to the European Union to a standstill.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross insisted that compensation and co-operation were required, and revealed that he had offered to act as a mediator between the UK and EU fish traders to try and achieve a breakthrough.

Mr Stone secured an agreement from the UK environment, food and rural affairs secretary George Eustice to meet with him over the difficulties facing the industry. This was part of an urgent debate secured by Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Mr Eustice had referred to the delays on exports as "only teething problems", adding: “Once people get used to the paperwork, goods will flow normally."

His comments came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs that fishing businesses would be compensated for “temporary frustrations”.

In addition to demanding more clarity on Mr Johnson's compensation pledge, Mr Stone said he had written to the government offering his assistance as an envoy.

After speaking in the Commons, Mr Stone said: “The fishing industry is drowning in a Tory-made crisis. Boats are being tied up. Fresh fish have gone to waste. The sea of opportunity promised to fishermen has turned out to be a sea of lies.

"MPs like me could just moan and do nothing. But instead, I offered to bring the fishing industry and the government together to find a solution – a gesture of goodwill that they dismissed.

"However, I am pleased that Mr Eustice did commit to having one-to-one meetings with MPs so I want to invite everyone from the fishing industry to get in touch with me and relay their experience, so we can confront Mr Eustice with the facts as a matter of urgency.

"He cannot be allowed to continue insulting our intelligence by putting his Brexit bureaucracy failures down to 'teething problems'.

"I have also offered the government to be an envoy to Europe and its traders. It's obvious that there are not enough people in the government who understand the severity of the situation, and I am intent on doing my utmost to offer practical help to resolve it.

"We have to work together. Compensation and co-operation are required."

Jamie Stone offered to act as a mediator to try and achieve a breakthrough on the seafood export crisis.
Jamie Stone offered to act as a mediator to try and achieve a breakthrough on the seafood export crisis.

Mr Stone criticised the Vote Leave campaign and the Conservatives in Westminster for "exploiting the hopes and fears of fishermen" during the Brexit referendum and warned that "Tory red tape is to blame for long-term damage to the fishing industry".

He went on: "Instead of following through on their promises, Tory ministers are playing down the situation, with Jacob Rees Mogg [Leader of the House of Commons] telling us that Scottish fish are happy now because they're British, not European fish. It's a total insult to the entire industry."

Mr Stone is asking anyone connected with the industry to detail their experiences at www.jamiestone.org.uk/highland_fishing

Earlier this week Mr Stone told Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove about the problems encountered by Scrabster Seafoods after it had £90,000 worth of seafood that could not enter the European market.

William Calder of Scrabster Seafoods told Mr Stone: "Businesses already severely affected by Covid are now facing the crippling impacts of an unworkable export regime where paperwork and checks are such that delays due to this are seeing a once buoyant industry disappear in a matter of weeks through no fault of its own."

Diane Watt, who runs Holborn Fishing Company near Thurso with husband Andrew, spoke of the "horrendous" problems facing seafood exporters.

She had to tell local fishermen to stop supplying their produce for the time being as it couldn't get into the European Union, blaming the "masses of paperwork" following the end of the Brexit transition period.

And she warned: "Once it's in that lorry, shellfish only lasts three days maximum. It really needs to be out of there before that – it just dies."

Christina Logue, a director of Scrabster business JPL Shellfish, said: "It's a bit of a worry. We need to get it sorted. The logistics companies are so overwhelmed with problems that they are not able to come back to us.

"We did anticipate it was going to be slow in the first couple of weeks while they were ironing things out but it doesn't really help us at this moment in time."

Most of the shellfish caught around Caithness and Sutherland goes to European markets, notably France, Spain and Portugal, but some is destined for China.

A UK government spokesperson said: "We recognise the fishing industry is facing some temporary issues as businesses get used to new processes for exporting following the end of the transition period.

"Our priority is to ensure goods flow smoothly to market and we are working closely with industry and the authorities in EU countries to understand and address any issues with documentation.

"We are also looking at what additional financial support we can provide to support those businesses affected and we’ll provide more details on that in due course."


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More