North MSP Gail Ross seeking clarity on seafood sector compensation scheme
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North MSP Gail Ross is seeking clarity on the UK government's compensation package for the seafood sector after being told that support will be targeted at processors rather than fishermen.
She says she has many constituents in the fishing industry and wants to know how the £23 million scheme will replace the income they have lost after being hit by Brexit-related bureaucracy and border delays following the end of the transition period.
Seafood exporters have struggled to get their goods into vital European Union markets since the turn of the year and there have been reports of businesses in Scotland losing more than £1 million a day in overseas sales.
Mrs Ross, the SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, questioned Scotland's rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing during a virtual ministerial statement on the impact on Scotland’s rural economy of leaving the EU.
She asked: “Can the cabinet secretary explain to my constituents in the fishing industry, of which there are many, how the UK compensation scheme will replace the income they have lost over the past few weeks?”
Mr Ewing replied: “I had a brief discussion with George Eustice [UK environment, food and rural affairs secretary] who gave me very, very, brief details of this scheme a couple of hours before it was announced in public.
“The little they have told us indicates that the fishermen’s compensation scheme will actually exclude fishermen. It will be the first scheme in history that was designed to support a group of people who will be ineligible for any support therefrom.
“Any support will only be for losses incurred by processors. I’m pleased that some compensation will be paid, and I fought long and hard for that with the UK government, but my understanding is that the UK government will not pay a penny piece to any fishermen anywhere in the UK for the losses that they have sustained in being unable to ply their trade because of Brexit.”
Mr Eustice told the House of Commons last week that the difficulties facing seafood exporters amounted to "teething problems", and foreign secretary Dominic Raab made the same comment in a TV interview at the weekend.
The UK government says the £23m fund is to support businesses that have been most adversely affected by Covid-19 "and the challenges of adjusting to new requirements for exporting".
This, it says, is in recognition of "the unique circumstances of the fishing sector, which has had the most significant new requirements to adjust to, and for whom even a short delay can lead to goods perishing – at a time when the industry is facing lower market prices and demand due to the pandemic".
The UK government says the fund will be targeted at fishing export businesses that can show evidence of "a genuine loss in exporting fish and shellfish to the EU". Support will be available immediately and paid retrospectively to cover losses incurred since the start of January.
The scheme will be aimed at small and medium enterprises, and the maximum claim available to individual operators will be £100,000.
Mr Eustice said: "This £23 million scheme will provide crucial support for fishermen and seafood exporters who have experienced delays and a lack of demand for fish from the restaurant industry in the UK and Europe.
"We are continuing to work closely with the fishing and aquaculture sectors to make sure that they are supported, and can continue to fish while contributing to the economies of our coastal communities."
Scotland Office minister David Duguid said: "This funding announcement is the latest step in the UK government’s continued engagement with the senior representatives of the industry to identify specific problems and to apply rapid solutions. Those conversations are, of course, aimed at addressing immediate concerns, and at finding longer-term, sustainable solutions to the challenges that the industry faces.
"Working with Scottish seafood business leaders, we want to get the best out of our exit from the Common Fisheries Policy and the opportunities that presents, as well maximising the investment package delivered by the UK government."
This week Scottish fishermen took part in a demonstration in central London against post-Brexit red tape which they say has made it almost impossible to sell seafood to Europe. More than a dozen lorries, bearing messages such as "Brexit carnage", drove past the Houses of Parliament in Westminster and parked outside Downing Street.
