THE HAVE-NOTS: Fears for future in harbour as fishermen sail 'close to the wind' over costs

Published on Friday 27 June 2008 22:04

IN THE heart of Peterhead's Port Henry Harbour, a long-retired fishing boat has become an almost symbolic presence on the waterfront.

Mounted on wooden blocks, its hull a flaking mess of paint and rot, the barely legible name of the vessel is not without irony: the White Heather.

Good fortune is a commodity rare among the Blue Toon's seafarers these days, something Graeme Murray knows better than most. For 36 years he has worked in the town's fishing industry and is now general manager of Peterhead Fishermen Limited, a co-operative which offers management advice to 17 independent boat owners.

He said: "There is a lot of despondency. I don't like to use the word suicidal, but it's a very hard time. We're getting paid the same prices for fish as we did 20 years ago, but the price of fuel has gone up from 12p a litre to 56p in the past two years.

"James Locker, the skipper of Oor Lass II, a white-fish boat, is in agreement.

"I've not got the biggest boat by any standard. We'll burn about 10-13,000 litres on a job, but my fuel bill has gone from 5,000 to 9,500 in the past year for a seven-day trip," the 28-year-old explained. "I'm trying to keep costs down – I'm employing some Filipino crew and using a lighter net – but there's only so much you can do."

Another anecdote from one of the town's fishermen provided startling information as to the burden of fuel increases.

Jimmy Buchan, 47, the skipper of the prawn trawler Amity II, was the star of the BBC documentary series, Trawlermen. His business is now running at a loss as a result of the diesel prices. One day this month he refuelled the Amity at port. Had he waited another 24 hours, he said, he would have had to pay another 480, following a 3p-a-litre price rise.

He added: "It is now getting to a serious situation where (fuel] is taking 50 per cent of the value of our catch. Amity and her crew are earning half of what they were this time last year."

The impact is also being felt in the various businesses which support the fishing industry.

Planned refits and refurbishments of boats have, in several instances, been delayed or cancelled altogether. Work once deemed customary has been rendered an unnecessary expense because of boatowners' dwindling profit margins.

As James Stephen, an experienced white-fish trawlerman and the skipper of the Harvest Hope, bemoaned: "We are sailing very, very close to the wind with the higher fuel costs now." Mr Stephen, who said about one in five boats in Peterhead is tied up at present, added: "We're just doing what we need to get by and make the boat seaworthy. We can't afford anything else, but in the long run it'll cost us."

For almost 25 years, Robert Buchan has worked in the town, as part-owner and director of RD Buchan & Sons, a ship repairer and general fabricator.

He said: "There is a terrible morale around the harbour. The boys on the fishing boats do a hard job, but they're not even sure they'll make any money."

"The price of oil may be a global problem, but there is a local solution in the form of lower taxes."

Peterhead's fishermen know help must come soon, whether it be from the EC Council of Fisheries or from closer to home.

Over the past decade, almost 1,000 boats have been decommissioned and thousands of fishermen forced to give up the life they were born into.

"Guys like me love what we do, and the current situation is hard to take," said Mr Stephen.

"I don't want to be subsidised," he added. "I've always thought any industry that needs subsidies won't last.

"But the fact is we need aid."