Debate contribution: Fishing Industry: Ardglass

Debate contribution by Miss Michelle McIlveen on 26 November 2024.

MLA

Miss Michelle McIlveen

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

26 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Fishing Industry: Ardglass

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4677691

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The pressures that the fishing industry in Ardglass is facing are exactly the same as those that the industry in Portavogie faces. I welcome the skippers from Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel to the Public Gallery this afternoon. Given the importance of Portavogie harbour to my constituency, I ensured that the issue was one of the first to be debated in the House on the Assembly's return. On 27 February, I proposed a motion on the issues that face the fishing industry in all three of Northern Ireland's commercial harbours. Like many sectors, the fishing industry faces rising input costs. There is a real need for practical and financial support. I have seen the devastating impact that a lack of support and increased bureaucracy has had on the Portavogie fleet and the consequences of that for the community involved. The Department has an important role to play in ensuring that the local fishing industry is in a position to take advantage of new fishing opportunities and to contribute to green growth. That includes investment in modernising its vessels and gear. Fishermen who operate out of all of Northern Ireland's ports face a real and existential threat, however, and that is access to skilled labour. As other Members have said — I do not wish to rehearse the detail — that problem has the industry on its knees. The Minister will know that I have raised the issue in debates and through questions to him, to the Minister for the Economy and to the First Minister and the deputy First Minister. To be frank, as other Members in the Chamber have said, if no action is taken in that regard, there will not be a fishing fleet. During the debate in February, I pointed out that the catching sector is already struggling to address labour shortages, particularly among UK residents, and that the processing sector is also facing difficulties. As a result, the seafood sector is massively reliant on non-UK labour in the catching and processing sectors, with 82% of the nephrops fleet relying on non-UK labour compared with 70% of the static-gear fleet and 52% of the demersal beam trawl fleet. I am in frequent contact with fishing industry representatives. One fisherman told me recently that he had not fished since Christmas because he could not find a crew. He is selling his vessel. Another fisherman had not been out to sea in over six weeks, yet, despite not being able to sail, he was still paying the crew. He has nothing coming in, but his outlays are still there. Analysis by Seafish, a DEFRA non-departmental public body (NDPB), shows that, if the crew issue is not resolved, Northern Ireland prawn trawlers can expect to make operating losses of between £41,500 and £83,500 per vessel. Those figures are probably conservative. I am pleased that, following my request, the matter is being seen as an Executive issue, with the Agriculture Minister, the Economy Minister and the First Minister and deputy First Minister now involved. It is vital that the issue be addressed. Members may already be aware that, this month, Northern Ireland fishermen are conducting sea trials of automated stunning and de-heading machines. While a skilled crewman can tail one stone of tails per hour, the machines are designed to tail 15 stones of tails per hour. That could be revolutionary for the industry. It would allow fishermen to catch their quota in fewer trips, resulting in less fuel being burned. The machines would also improve crew welfare. Such machines, however, are not cheap, costing in the region of £180,000 each, but, given the worker issue, they could be a potential lifeline. The industry is keen to explore whether the Minister would agree to the purchase of the machines being supported by the Maritime and Fisheries Fund (MFF) and green growth strategy funding. The other key issue is the closure of the Isle of Man fishing grounds. The Minister will be aware of the questions for written answer that I submitted and of the Member's statement that I made in the Chamber on 23 April. Access to historical fishing grounds was cut off by the Manx Government on 1 April this year under the auspices of protecting blue-carbon habitats, but, really, it was a protectionist measure to grow their own fishing industry. Despite that, the UK gifts the Manx Government fishing quotas. The reward for that generosity is having our traditional fishing grounds snatched away from us. At that time, I asked for some means of compensation to be offered to our fishermen for that loss and to support diversification, perhaps in the form of an additional herring quota. I still want to see that happen, and I hope that the Minister is advocating for it. I am also disappointed to note that a request by the Northern Ireland Fishermen’s Federation to meet the Minister again about access to labour issues was turned down. Instead, the meeting was delegated to officials. Given the range of challenges that the industry faces, will the Minister commit to accompanying me to meet Northern Ireland Fishermen’s Federation representatives to discuss concerns about the viability of the fishing industry as they requested? Without an urgent intervention, there will be no industry left to support.

877 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:36 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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