Fishermen's leaders demand urgent talks

Published on Monday 28 June 2010 19:16

THE leader of Scotland's fishermen blamed a shortage of domestic labour for the industry relying heavily on workers from outside the European Union.

Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, said the body "urgently" needed to talk to Home Office officials to find out how the new rules would affect hiring foreign labour from outside the EU.

Mr Armstrong revealed that many skippers needed access to skilled fishermen from overseas, mainly Philippinos, because of a shortage of experienced fishermen across Scotland.

The fishing boss said the west coast of Scotland was one of the main areassuffering from a labour shortage.

Mr Armstrong went on to say that the industry also faced a challenge from other sectors such as oil and gas, against which it had to compete for labour.

He said: "At this point in time, we do depend on non-EU labour and we now need to know how the new rules will affect our industry in Scotland, as there could be implications for us. We will need to urgently talk to Home Office officials to see if we can still access the labour we need from overseas.

"It's something we'll be looking to do as quickly as possible as the rules could start to make a difference quickly.

"Right now, we do have a requirement for overseas labour and there are a number of key reasons for this.

"We want to have a homegrown fishing industry, but fishing is not for everyone and we are competing for labour against other industries like oil and gas in areas like the north east of Scotland.

"Also, to take the example of the west coast of Scotland, we have a problem because the availability of labour is small and so we end up with a situation where we have a requirement for overseas labour.

"We have a skills shortage in the fishing industry and it's something we're looking to address. We're trying to encourage more people to go into the industry and to make it a more attractive.

"But until that happens and we see more homegrown fishermen, we'll need to look to get some people from overseas.

"There are experienced fishermen from non-EU countries, mainly Philippinos, who we need to work in the Scottish fishing industry.

"These fishermen play a key role in our industry and we now need to know where we stand, but we won't be able to do anything until we've had the situation clarified by the Home Office.

"Hopefully, a clearer picture of what effect the rules will have on us will start to emerge in the next few days.

"I'm sure there are people in the fishing industry across the country anxious to know if they'll still be able to use the overseas sources of labour thatthey've come to rely on.

"I imagine that other industries will also be affected by the new rules."