Seafood firms ‘rely more on EU workers’

Scottish seafood businesses are much more reliant on European workers than those in the rest of the UK, a survey shows.

Marine Scotland surveyed 18 seafood processing firms, representing more than a third of the total workforce, and found 58 per cent of staff were from European Economic Area (EEA) countries, compared with 42 per cent for the whole of the UK.

Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian nationals were the most likely to be employed, with the highest proportion of EEA staff (64 per cent) working in mixed or white fish processing firms, the majority of which are found in northeast Scotland.

A large majority (86 per cent) of employees working in the industry were on permanent contracts, the survey found.

Analysis of the results by Marine Scotland concluded: “This dependency has resulted in the surveyed seafood processing businesses voicing their concerns on finding suitable and reliable labour if, when the UK exits from the EU, there are changes to the free movement of people.

“This has resulted in some businesses citing the EU exit as a significant threat to their business’ operational viability.”