Debate contribution: Fishing Industry: Capital Investment

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 27 February 2024.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

27 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Fishing Industry: Capital Investment

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4237487

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Getting this opportunity to have a conversation about the infrastructure and capital investment around our ports is exceptionally important, given that there has not been a substantial investment in them in such a long time. Also, this programme that we are talking about has been kicking about for quite a number of years, and there is a lot of uncertainty in the sector as it tries to get the information about where we are. Before speaking to the amendment, I extend to you, Mr Speaker, the appreciation of many in the sector of the work that you did previously as an agriculture and fisheries Minister. They felt that you understood the sector and tried to progress it, and we hope that we can build on that going forward. You will know, Mr Speaker, the importance of the fishing and seafood development programme report, but there are many who do not. They do not realise how big and how important a sector this is and that we have to do what we can to ensure investment, harbour development and job sustainability. The report identified that development could take place in Kilkeel, Ardglass and Portavogie, as referenced today. We are talking about a multi, multi, multimillion-pound development for those ports.

We know the important and valuable contribution that our fishing industry makes to our local and wider community. For example, in 2021 alone, the Northern Ireland fleet landed some 46 kilotons of fish, which was worth £52 million. That is around 6% of the total UK value. It is a very important and large sector. Delivery of the programme could see that being enhanced and developed and more jobs being delivered into those fishing ports. There are then the spin-offs that come into the communities if you have a thriving port, and many other industries will develop as a result.

Thank you for highlighting the fact that it extends beyond the three ports for the fishing industry. Many inland fishery opportunities are available and are facing their own crises, and it is important that we recognise that today. The fishery and seafood development programme has twice fallen victim to political failure. The first failure is the fact that these institutions have been collapsed for five of the last seven years. That really speaks to the uncertainty that I mentioned in the sector. To those in the sector, it feels as though it has been stop-go, stop-go, stop-go. Will the money come; how much will it be; who will deliver it? Just when they feel that they are getting close to having some answers, one or other of the parties here collapses the institutions, and we go into deep freeze for a couple of years. It is worth noting that having stability in these institutions will allow stability and delivery of programmes such as this, which will help our communities. The second failure, of course, that continues to linger over this place is Brexit. That has had a serious impact. The fishing industry is a great example of where Brexit went wrong. They were promised that there would be some sort of panacea for them and that their future would be golden because Brexit would help them to take back control. Of course, that has not happened; in fact, there has been a downturn in some of the capacity in fishing as a result of Brexit. The uncertainty that Brexit has brought to all industries has had a massive impact. I genuinely mean this and not in a manner to shame people, but you have to be able to draw a connection: you went out to fishing communities and asked them to vote for Brexit and then Brexit had a massive impact on their ability to do their job and they are now suffering. They look to these institutions to try to get some support, but the institutions were collapsed. For people in the fishing industry, it has been blow after blow. I hope that, through the programme, we will hear from the Minister that there will be certainty going forward and that there will be speed in going forward with these programmes, so that the fishing communities and those who have their businesses in the industry are able to progress their work. We have also referenced — our amendment speaks to it — the fish-processing sector. There are difficulties there because the fish-processing sector has not been added to the Home Office list of seasonal workers. That means that, to attract staff into the processing sector, they have to navigate the new immigration laws. Again, why do we have new immigration laws? It is because of Brexit. Brexit resulted in new immigration laws, and those immigration laws are punishing our fish-processing sector. I hope that the Minister will speak to that in his remarks later, but we have to try our best to impress upon the Home Office the fact that there is seasonality to the fish-processing sector. People in that sector do not go out and fish 365 days a year across all the various fish that are available; they pick specific elements of the market and work with that. There is seasonality in the sector that they choose. An argument can be made to the Home Office that the fish-processing sector is seasonal and should be added to that list so that the immigration exemptions can be put in place and the staff can be drawn down. For some in the fish-processing sector, that will be the difference between surviving or not. As was highlighted at the start of the debate, we have a thriving sector. We want to support the sector. We want to encourage and grow it, but fishing processors cannot do that, if they have one hand tied behind their back. I hope that the Minister will accept the amendment and that he will be able to have direct interaction with Home Office officials to see whether we can get fishing processors added to that list of seasonal workers. The motion talks about the development of fishing infrastructure and sites. We will support that, and I hope that the amendment, which will help with fish-processing staffing, will also be accepted today.

1,034 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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