Westminster refuses to back track on seasonal visas for foreign fishermen causing industry concerns.
Northern Ireland’s biggest fishing port could generate a UK centre of excellence for training amid the Labour Government’s refusal to U-turn on foreign worker visas.
Mournes DUP rep, Henry Reilly brought forward the proposal in light of a Westminster letter to the council encouraging fisheries to “recruit locally” with a pending £350m investment to the industry.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) has repeatedly raised concerns on the blocking of seasonal worker visas having “disastrous impacts” on fishing villages in Kilkeel and across south Down.
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Cllr Reilly said: “What the Home Office is now saying is that we basically need to be employing local people to do this work, everybody agrees with that.
“The problem is there is no training facility in Northern Ireland for a young fisherman.
“If you want training, you have to go way down to Cork or over to Scotland, so maybe that is something we can look at with Newry College of Further Education.
“This would allow for Skipper Licences, health and safety training etc to be done.”
He added: “We could now have the incentive following correspondence from the UK Minister to do something that could improve our whole fishing industry especially with the anticipated investment the Labour Party promised after they sold out the UK fishermen to the EU.
“I would ask that we work together with the further education college to devise a scheme for fisheries training. It would be a major facility to build up and would bring people from all over England, Scotland and Wales as well as Northern Ireland.”
The current visa system does not recognise foreign fishermen as seasonal workers, but rather skilled workers as fishing boats go out to the sea over nine months of the year or more.
The crucial element being that fishermen may not work for the full period due to weather conditions, which means ship owners cannot afford to pay the wages.
This has caused the fishing industry to suffer as employers are unable to reach the new minimum wage demand of £38,700 in order to gain a skilled visa worker.
Furthermore, a new fisheries deal announced by PM Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission President von der Leyen (May 19) will now give European fishing boats a further 12 years of access to British waters in exchange for easing some trade frictions.
The Government also announced a £360m Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, described as a “major investment [that] will modernise Britain’s fishing fleet, enhance workforce skills, and revitalise coastal communities to boost tourism”.
The UK Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner wrote a response to NMDDC fisheries concerns, with the details provided in chambers this week.
The letter read: “The Government has been clear about the need to reduce the reliance on migrant labour and for UK business to find ways to recruit locally in order to build a long-term resilient and sustainable workforce.”
It added: “The Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund (FCGF) will invest £350m over the next 12 years in the fisheries and seafood sector and coastal communities.
“We are currently developing the scheme and will engage with fishing and seafood industries, alongside coastal communities to target investment where it matters most.
“We will set out further details in due course, including when we will launch the funding.”
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