No rotten seafood, but a stink at No10 over fishing chaos
FURIOUS fishermen descended on Downing Street yesterday to protest at post-Brexit red tape said to be costing the industry up to £1million a day.
They threatened to dump tons of rotten fish on the Prime Minister’s doorstep – but many were stopped by police for breaching coronavirus rules.
More than 20 large lorries, mostly from Scotland, arrived in London emblazoned with slogans including ‘Brexit carnage’ and ‘incompetent government destroying shellfish industry’ to protest that new bureaucracy risks bringing the industry to a halt. But 15 drivers or passengers now face fines for ‘ Covidrelated offences’ linked to unnecessary journeys.
They are angry at the difficulty in exporting their produce to the EU since the UK’s transition period ended on December 31. Fishermen have complained of severe delays at the Channel border, a result of new customs checks and documentation, causing fresh produce to become unsellable.
Boris Johnson further risked
‘Industry being tied in knots’
the wrath of the industry as he intimated that the problems might relate to forms not being filled in correctly.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of trying to blame fishing communities for the issues caused by Brexit.
Mr Johnson said he ‘understood the frustrations’ but insisted that some of the exporters’ problems had been ‘exacerbated by the Covid pandemic’ because demand for UK fish was no longer as high on the continent.
Fishermen have warned that businesses are close to going under in a ‘full-blown crisis’. Some are even landing catches directly in Denmark to avoid the paperwork that exporting from the UK now involves.
Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association, said: ‘What was expected to take one hour now takes five or six hours.
‘ Every fish needs to be weighed and documented. Last year we didn’t need these checks. Where you might have ten producers and different products sharing the same lorry, you have gone from seven documents to maybe hundreds. Trips which once took 24 to 36 hours are now taking four to five days.’
Of the protesters, he added: ‘I understand frustration has kicked in but I’m disappointed they felt the need to go this route during a pandemic.’
Scottish firm DR Collin & Son, which joined the protest, said: ‘The industry is being tied in knots. The technology is outdated and cannot cope. These are not “teething issues” and the consequences will be catastrophic on the lives of fishermen, fishing towns and the shellfish industry.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘We recognise that the fishing industry is facing some temporary issues... and we are looking at what additional financial support we can provide. Our priority is to ensure that goods can continue to flow smoothly to market.’