Fuming Scots fishermen who once backed Brexit have said they were promised a “new dawn” before being “sold down the river”.
Veterans and industry chiefs told the Daily Record their sector had been treated as the “poster boy” for Brexit then “sacrificed” in the trade deal Boris Johnson agreed with the EU. Speaking at Peterhead Harbour, skipper Peter Bruce said the reality of leaving Europe had shattered his trust in Brexiteer politicians.
He said: “It’s been a big disappointment, to be quite honest. The politicians came up from London, Boris Johnson came up a couple of times, the highest levels of government came up to Peterhead Harbour, promising this new dawn for the fishing industry. And that new dawn hasn’t come.”
Fishing was a key plank of the 2016 campaign, with slogans claiming Britain would “take back control of our waters” and enjoy “seas of opportunity”. It led many fishermen, particularly small-boat fishers, to back Leave, with many detesting the EU’s system of quotas in its Common Fisheries Policy.
The terms of the agreement ex-PM Johnson struck with Brussels, however, did not transform the UK into the promised “independent coastal state”. Instead, significant EU access to British waters will remain until at least 2026, when the UK and Brussels will begin to negotiate fishing stocks yearly.
Peter, semi-retired skipper of the Budding Rose, said: “We were sold down the river from when we entered the CFP in Europe and we feel very, very let down again with the deal we’ve got. We must have been living in cloud cuckoo land in some ways if we expected to trust the politicians. But we take people at their word.”
The Budding Rose takes most of its catch to Peterhead Fish Market, which runs five days a week and remains the biggest whitefish market in Europe, with commercial buyers purchasing their wares at its famous auction.
Peter said: “We saw it as a great opportunity to reinvigorate the industry and it hasn’t happened. In my mind, we’ve left the CFP in name only.
“The pelagic guys, the mackerel guys, they’ve gained a bit of quota. But for my type of operation, which is whitefish, fishing cod and haddock, we’ve gained very, very little.”
Just over the road, workers at McConnell Seafoods – which fillets fish to order from the market – have a similar outlook. Supervisor Stephen Napier said: “We went into Brexit with our eyes closed. And I think we were sold out.”
The bureaucracy caused by Brexit, such as complicated paperwork and the loss of EU labour, has also been a huge headache. Stephen said: “We send fish to England, London and to Belfast, and that’s where we hit the problems with Brexit because you’ve got to fill out special stickers and manifests for them.
"They were pulling a lot of manifests for Belfast. It was tricky to start with.”
Mike Park, chief of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, said trade barriers had also affected those out on the boats.
He said: “Year one after the deal was struck was a big negative for us because, while we were in the Europe club, if another member state didn’t catch their allocation of cod, we had a mechanism whereby we could bring it in, we could catch it.
“When we came out, that mechanism disappeared – and it took us at least another year to create that so we can get access again, although it’s now more cumbersome.”
Park’s views on the top Tories during the Brexit negotiations are derisory.
He said: “One of the biggest negatives for me was the hyperbole spoken by the Michael Goves, the David Frosts, the Boris Johnsons, who all knew what was going on and they were still spinning it and spinning it. And they’re still spinning it because, here we are, they’re still talking about how post-2026, they will deliver.
"No, you won’t. Go and read the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Europe still gets the same amount of fish after 2026.”
He dismissed UK Government efforts to tout a new deal with the EU, bringing £280million worth of opportunities to British fishermen this year, as “spin”.
Park said: “It was in fish we didn’t catch. Dover sole was one of the big ones. What are we going to do with that?
"It wasn’t about fishing and who gets what, it was about, ‘Guys, we need to make this a significant financial figure. What can we throw in that doesn’t impact the EU?”
Donna Fordyce, chief executive of industry body Seafood Scotland, said labour shortages have had a “huge impact” on processing. Previously nearly 80 per cent of the workforce came from eastern Europe.
She said: “Businesses are having production issues and turning down growth opportunities due to lack of labour.”
Some in the industry think, post-2026, things will improve.
Park said: “I get it from some of my members on WhatsApp, saying, ‘Yeah but after 2026 it will be different.’ But I’m saying, ‘Guys, I’m going to tell you honestly, 2026 will make very little difference to your life.’”
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
