UK fishermen are taking a battering by the country''s “exceptional” winter, which according to the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) is affecting around 4,000 fishermen with losses running into millions of pounds.
The NFFO is calling for an urgent meeting with the UK government to address storm damage. It says that fishermen along the south west coast of England and in Wales are facing up two months of no fishing without any compensation for loss of earnings.
Tony Delahunty, a Selsey fisherman and the NFFO’s chairman, said it is the most sustained ferocious weather he has seen in his 40 years in the industry. “We have had bad weather, but this situation is unprecedented and is causing huge disruption to the industry,” he said.
The organisation wants the government to ensure that the £5,000 grant and extra help from banks promised this week to UK businesses affected by storms and flooding will be extended to fishermen.
As well as affecting livelihoods, the storms have hammered infrastructures, including vessels, harbours, sea defences, shingle beaches and static fishing gear. Plus there are concerns for the crab, lobster and whelk stocks being washed up on the beaches.
The RNLI is also being kept busy by the weather and fishermen struggle to make a living. Clifden RNLI in County Galway rescued four fish farmers after they got into difficulty in extreme weather conditions this week.
The fish farmers were stranded at the mouth of Clifden Bay onboard a 16ft boat which was tied to a fish cage. The RNLI crew transferred three of the crew members from the vessel and one crew member from a large fish cage. All four were returned safely to shore.
