Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
Scottish fishermen are willing to sail an extra 48 hours to Denmark, where their catch can double as much after prices plummeted at home after Brexit.
A boat loaded with 15 tons of anglerfish that arrived Thursday evening was expected to fetch its Scottish captain 225,000 kronor ($ 36,700) more than in Petershead, Britain’s largest fishing port, said Jesper Kongsted, a fish auctioneer in Hanstholm on Denmark’s North Sea coast. .
Buyers in the UK are turning away from more expensive types of fish as red tape and queues can mean it’s not fresh when it reaches European customers. Seafood from Scotland said prices for many types of seafood have fallen 40% to 50% this week, and some by as much as 80%.
“Boris Johnson probably forgot to explain what leaving the EU would mean for fishermen’s ability to sell in the European market,” Kongsted said.
Read more: A brief explanation of why fishing was so important in trade talks
The impact of the Brexit transition on the Scottish fishing industry is far-reaching, ranging from computer glitches to a lack of clarity on paperwork, making attempts to export ‘next to impossible’, said Donna Fordyce, CEO of Seafood From Scotland, said in a statement. a statement.
With about a third of Scottish vessels moored and others sailing to Denmark, many fishermen are on dry land and the manufacturing industry is suffering, which employs 10,000 workers.
James Withers, CEO of the industry group Scotland Food & Drink, estimates that seafood traders are currently losing 1 million pounds ($ 1.4 million) in exports per day due to the customs chaos.
The UK landed nearly 1 billion pounds of fish in 2019, much of it in Scotland.
“No party can solve this problem overnight, but losses to the industry are increasing and the situation is urgent,” Fordyce said. “We have days to fix it, not weeks.”
The UK government has pledged a £ 100 million package to help restore the country’s fishing fleet and the industry’s outdated infrastructure.
Read more: Brexit deal could lead to less British cod for fish and chips
Back in Denmark, Kongsted estimates that boats unloading in the Scandinavian country are in a rush to resolve an immediate problem and that the number of arriving trawlers could eventually decline as solutions are found in the UK.
– With help from Joe Mayes