A combination of Covid and Brexit is causing a “witches’ brew” for the fisheries sector, with calls for more support for badly affected businesses.
The pandemic’s closure of hospitality has hit sales to restaurants and cafes – with the double whammy of Brexit also hitting trade with the EU.
James Wilson of Menai Strait mussel firm Deepdock Ltd said: “The twin crises of Covid and Brexit have both had severe consequences individually; the collision of both at the same time is a proper witches’ brew.
“Our intention for the end of EU transition had been to sell out everything. However, the effects of the European pandemic lockdowns meant demand was suppressed and so we moved into this year with stock.
“Roughly 60% of the mussels we produce, when processed in Netherlands and France, end up in retail supply, the rest to restaurants. This latter market of course is not functioning at all in many countries.
“There is some demand now, but of course the biggest hurdle is the uncertainty of entry into the European market, especially the transit times and also too the uplift in transport costs.”
Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Energy and Rural Affairs Janet Finch-Saunders MS has written to the Welsh Government to call for urgent grant support to be made available to the fisheries sector in Wales.
She said: “A vitally important part of the hospitality and tourism offering in Wales is seafood, demand for which has understandably collapsed due to the closure of hotels and restaurants. This greatly impacts our fishing businesses, which tend to have very high fixed costs that cannot be avoided.
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“For this reason, I have written to the Welsh Government to ask the Minister for Economy to urgently outline what grant support will be made available to the fisheries sector in Wales in light of the collapse in demand for product.”
She said many firms and workers had been left excluded due to working on a freelance share of catch basis.
Welsh Government said the Self Employment Income Support Scheme should support workers and criticised the 海角视频 Government’s EU trade deal for the “catastrophic” impact on the seafood sector in Wales.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Our support complements that of the 海角视频 Government and it is their Self Employment Income Support Scheme which should be explored in cases such as this.
“But the blame for this situation rests wholly with the 海角视频 Government’s determination to leave the Customs Union and the deal it negotiated with the EU.
“The deal is having a catastrophic impact on the Welsh seafood sector because of the requirement for additional paperwork and new checks on exports of Welsh produce into EU markets.
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"A number of exporters have experienced difficulties in getting their product to Europe and some of these difficulties resulted in consignments of fresh and live product becoming stranded or delayed.
"A number of orders have gone unfulfilled with high value products being spoiled, which has resulted in poor market prices due to lack of demand.”
Update from 海角视频 Government:
On Tuesday night 海角视频 Government announced eafood exporters across the 海角视频 will receive government funding of up to £23 million, to support businesses which have been most adversely affected by the Covid pandemic and Brexit exporting red tape.
The fund will be targeted at fishing export businesses who can evidence a genuine loss in exporting fish and shellfish to the EU. Support will be available immediately and paid retrospectively to cover losses incurred since 1 January 2021.
The scheme will be targeted at small and medium enterprises and the maximum claim available to individual operators will be £100,000.
Ms Finch-Saunders said: “I am incredibly pleased that the 海角视频 Government continues to work closely with the British fishing and aquaculture sectors so as to ensure that they are adequately supported through this challenging period. The provision of this 海角视频-wide support will also ensure that no coastal community is left behind.
“This financial assistance will help to ensure that Welsh fisheries remain resilient for future generations. To ensure that this issue remains at the fore, I will continue to petition all 海角视频 bodies for clarity on the steps being taken by to help strengthen the shellfish sector in Wales in the longer term.”
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