Governments urged to unite to resolve seafood export delays and provide compensation as Moray firms reel from impact
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UK MINISTERS have been urged to work with the Scottish Government to resolve issues with seafood exports and provide "vital" compensation for the sector.
Businesses have faced delays at a central hub in Larkhall, near Glasgow, established by the Scottish Government to process exports to the EU.
Small batches of seafood from around the country are sorted into truckloads at the Larkhall site before being driven to ports and then to the continent.
There have been delays due to incomplete paperwork and in getting health certificates signed off.
Moray Scottish Conservative MP Douglas Ross raised the issue with DEFRA Secretary George Eustice in the House of Commons yesterday, urging the two governments to work together and for compensation to be paid out to those affected.
Mr Eustice said he was holding talks with Danish logistics firm DFDS, which is running the Larkhall site, as well as Food Standards Scotland and Scottish Government ministers. He said additional support has been offered from the UK side to the Scottish Government should it be required.
Moray SNP MSP Richard Lochhead, while welcoming cross-party support, said the Conservatives faced "an unprecedented backlash from our fishing communities" over the party's Brexit "betrayal".
Mr Ross said: "The UK and Scottish governments must work together to resolve these issues that are having such an impact on seafood exports.
"There is no getting away from the major problems that the sector is facing. This should all have been resolved long before now, as deal or no deal, these problems could have been anticipated and resolved long before they started to impact fishermen.
"Businesses here in Moray are seeing the effect the delays at Larkhall are having on market prices."
Mr Ross said one Buckie skipper reported that he had only made half of what he needs to cover his costs from his catch this week due to depressed market prices.
He added: "I have been contacted by many others locally and indeed across Scotland who are suffering due to these hold-ups."
He said financial compensation for the sector from the UK Government was vital and must be delivered as quickly as possible.
Mr Lochhead said: "I welcome cross-party support for compensation for the seafood sector and fishing industry in response to the calamity that has resulted from Mr Ross and his party’s betrayal of our fishing communities.
"If he has any integrity, Mr Ross should also be asking himself why he is remaining in Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party, after he went round doors in Moray securing votes by promising to deliver a fantastic Brexit deal for our fishermen.
"He also signed a letter saying he’d never accept a deal that did not deliver full control over fish stocks and access. He’s abandoned that commitment and fishermen have been left with less quota when Mr Ross and the Conservatives promised them more, more red tape when he promised them less, and now we see our premium seafood sector being crippled by problems getting their exports to key European markets.
"Mr Ross and his party are set to face an unprecedented backlash from our fishing communities after they promised a sea of opportunity when all they’ve delivered is a swamp of betrayal and huge problems for our fishing industry. The Tories sold the industry out when they took it into Europe in the 1970s and have done the same again when taking the industry out of Europe in 2020.
"To be crystal clear, these issues sit squarely at the door of Boris Johnson and his Scottish Tory enablers. They must now compensate local businesses for the financial disaster they have caused."
Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston added: "Industry representatives cannot understand why checks that are taking place in Scotland are taking so long, causing unnecessary delays to transportation.
"The sector just wants to see both governments get behind them so that these problems are overcome and their products, which are in such demand, can get to their customers."
