The Scottish seafood industry faces an “existential threat” as exports cost trebled and paperwork fees rise by £250,000 in the six months since Brexit, MPs have warned.
In a Commons debate on the future of fisheries Argyll and Bute MP Brendan O’Hara said that Brexit had left “an industry drowning in bureaucracy and red tape, and facing huge transport and logistical problems”
The SNP MP said in costs of exports now meant Brexit was seen as “an existential threat to the industry.”
Scottish MPs queued up to tell of the problems companies around the coast faced since customs checks and paperwork was introduced when the Brexit transition period ended in January.
Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael, who initiated the debate told MPs that many in the industry felt “feel let down and used” by Boris Johnson and his Brexiteer backers.
Delays at the border at the start of the year cost firms more than £1 million a day and the annual cost of new paperwork is estimated at around £250,000 to £500,000 a year.
Carmichael told a Westminster debate: “The deal struck by the prime minister on Christmas Eve is not what the fishing industry was promised and six months into its first year, it is causing massive difficulties.
“In coastal and island communities around the country, the anger and frustration felt by fishermen is almost palpable.
“They feel let down and used and they want answers.”
Carmichael also warned “vicious” clashes at sea between Scottish vessels and foreign boats off the Shetland coast would lead to tragedy.
He said: “Is it going to require a boat to go to the bottom of the sea before somebody takes responsibility and acts?”
Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil listed the “exponential rise in costs” since Brexit.
He said: “Speaking to a local fish factory in my constituency, they tell me that were once a mere delivery note used to suffice they now need a catch certificate.
“They also need packing lists, they need commodity codes, they need the scientific names on the consignments, they need a commercial invoice, they need import/export declaration form, they need to pay the French government VAT and also a health certificate.”
He added: “Were once 32p per kilo was the export cost to get product to the continent, it has now trebled to a £1 a kilo.”
Fishing minister Victoria Prentis highlighted a £23 million compensation package provided to the industry and the £100 million fund to “modernise and develop the seafood sector”.
She said: “There is a bright future ahead of us.”
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