Confidence in post-Brexit seafood supply from major shippers to the 海角视频 has been underlined, days from finding out whether it is deal or no deal.
Iceland, Norway and the Faroes send the vast majority of fish consumed in Britain into the seafood processing capital of Grimsby, via neighbouring Port of Immingham.
From there, via a 5,000 employee strong cluster working for operators large and small, it is dispatched to retailers, fish and chip shops and restaurants the nation over.
And port congestion – particularly in the short term – opposed to cutting off supply, is the biggest concern, with fresh supply among the most vulnerable of cargoes at risk.
As the 海角视频 Seafood Summit opened, a special import-focused fringe event was held, with Norway the main centre of attention.
All three countries have agreed trade deals in the event of a hard Brexit, and while Iceland sails direct, Norway has for years relied on trucking through Europe. While it continues, seafood sailings from neighbouring Sweden to the Humber have been established, via Gothenburg, mitigating some fears any end to frictionless trade could bring with multiple border crossings.
Eimskip carries 140,000 tonnes of fish annually from the trio of North Atlantic nations. Mike Lane, 海角视频 managing director at the shipping company, said: ”The most important point we can take has been the continuity trade deals - they are going to limit a lot of changes to what we potentially would have seen if they hadn’t been put in place.
“We have been discussing this with supply chain partners for months. At the start of the process, our stevedore, is DFDS. They don’t expect any consequences of leaving the EU. There could be some congestion on the terminals, that’s the biggest risk, but getting the vessels in, discharged, containers on to trailers and out of the port, they don’t foresee any problems.
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"The only risk is congestion in regard to trailer work, but there are contingencies in place. The fact we have a Sunday afternoon sailing means we’re in a quieter period too for the port.”
Off the port, hauliers have expressed more concerns about congestion, and potential fuel shortages. “We don’t see that,” Mr Lane said. “We think we will deal with it.”
On Grimsby Fish Market, where the majority of the fresh fish is destined, “they are assuring us because of the continuity agreements in place don’t expect any major challenges, so it should be business as usual,” Mr Lane told the industry gathering.
Storage was flagged on the frozen front as an issue, with the area’s sub-zero concentration at bursting point as Brexit uncertainty has seen stocks held, to ensure continuous availability come what may. It is on a crash course with the festive season – a massive period for seafood.
“We are seeing huge issues regarding coldstores being full,” Mr Lane said. “The concern we have is we are now nearly in the run up to Christmas. If there is an extension to the end of January, we could see a bottleneck.
“We are regularly diverting containers to Chesterfield that would have gone to Grimsby, it is spilling quite far out and adding cost in, and we are finding haulage can be difficult. We are in tough times but I don’t believe we will see major changes to service levels.”
Operation Wellington has been established to deal with Brexit impacts by the Humber Local Resilience Forum, with congestion in a worst case scenario leading to a three phase plan that could culminate in motorway stretches becoming lorry parks if ferry delays or border issues emerge.
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Craig Stephen, commercial manager for ABP’s Humber container work, told how preparation by all involved in imports and exports was vital.
“ABP exists purely to facilitate business, and Brexit is a huge team game,” he said, adding he thought the likelihood of no deal happening is very minor. “ABP relies on other people to understand their own obligations.
“We foresee there may be people that haven’t prepared properly and will cause delay and get their fingers burned. They will understand very quickly what they need to do the next time. We generally foresee a short spike where people haven’t understood what they need to do. When it is delays to cargo, food in boxes, people will learn even quicker.”
The event, chaired by Seafood Grimsby and Humber figurehead Simon Dwyer, secretariat to the Grimsby Fish Merchants Association, heard how the six-weekly Sweden to Immingham service, championed by him as an alternative to taking Norwegian fish by land, was actually bringing extended shelf life to products.
Unaccompanied cargo could also “recalibrate how trade comes to the country,” with the Humber then the obvious choice.
And Hulda Robbins, of shipping company Samskip, said the continuity deals “could possibly see an increase in imports from these countries”.
Secretary of State for the Minister of Fisheries, Roy Angelvik, said: “We are in exciting times, we don’t know what will happen in the next four, five or six days, and I have come direct from my room watching the television. It is kind of a circus but very exciting. We think we have a plan and we think the plan will come good.”
Hans Frode Kielland Asmyhr, 海角视频 director of the Norwegian Seafood Council, added: “We have for some time analysed logistics between Norway and the 海角视频 in case of a hard Brexit, and it is important for us to hear from industry on how prepared it is and how dialogue with exporters in Norway is. We do see in all short term logistics, this is probably the most vulnerable situation should a hard Brexit come. Hopefully it won’t but we have to be prepared.”
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