In the Seafood Scotland factory, on the outskirts of Peterhead, Scotland, employees end their day in the middle of the afternoon. Since dawn, they have been preparing the fish and seafood, putting them in the boxes and loading the trucks… We must act quickly to send the products as fresh as possible to the European Union, and in particular to France, where most of the production starts.
In the adjoining offices, where the smell of seafood fills everything, the day is far from over for Greg Busquet and Mohamed Bouziane, two French employees. The export of langoustines, scallops and other hake now requires a lot of work. Since 1er January, and the effective entry into force of Brexit, you need: a capture certificate, a veterinary certificate, an export declaration, an import declaration from the French company buying the goods … ” It’s exhausting, explains Mr. Busquet. There isn’t a night when you don’t need to urgently deal with an administrative problem. “
The tastes of the populations are thus made: the British eat little what they fish, while the Europeans are crazy about products from the cold seas of the northeast Atlantic. In total, 80% of fish and shellfish in UK waters are exported. Leaving the EU, by complicating the border crossing, imposed a serious headache on the entire fishing industry in the country.
The first weeks of Brexit were catastrophic. “There weren’t enough vets, the British computer system was not up to scratch …”, explains Mr. Busquet. Their merchandise got stuck at the border and rotted. The company lost 150,000 pounds (173,000 euros) of products, half reimbursed by the British government.
“Mislabelled langoustines”
Ten months later, the situation returned to normal. “We found the export volume before Brexit”, notes Mr. Bouziane. But that represents a serious cost: 3,200 pounds (3,700 euros) additional on average per truck, that is to say between 3% and 10% of the profit margin according to the loads. We had to hire additional staff and pay the vets.
Ireland, the big loser of the new fishing quotas
In Peterhead, the first British fishing port, an analysis has been covering fishermen since Brexit: “In this case, the French and the Spaniards are doing very well, while the big losers are the Irish. “
A post-Brexit quota sharing report drafted by the Irish government confirms this: by 2026, Ireland will lose 15% of the fishing quotas it previously owned, making it the most affected country, tied with Germany, but on much larger volumes. Spain (4% of lost quotas), Denmark (7%) and France (8%) are the least affected. The Netherlands lose 10%.
Of course, the impact for French fishermen is far from neutral, because the sector there is one of the largest in Europe: the French loss corresponds to 52 million euros in turnover. A sum close to that of Ireland’s losses (43 million euros lost), while the fishing sector is three times smaller.
This inequitable distribution among European countries stems from the way Brexit was negotiated. The European Union has mainly allowed pelagic fishing quotas (herring, mackerel, etc.) to slip away, a sector where Ireland is very present and France almost absent. “It gives a good indication of the influence of France in the negotiations”, says Jimmy Buchan, director of the Scottish Seafood Association.
In an attempt to limit social damage, the Irish government has set up a working group. Its interim report, published in June, proposes that the 220 most affected boats remain in port for one month a year and be compensated during that period, at least until 2023. The money could come from the Brexit compensation fund put in place. place by commission. The Irish task force also calls for Ireland to obtain better quotas in the waters of Norway and the Faroe Islands, as well as from other European countries.
“Above all, we manage to return to our former level of exports only thanks to our critical size”, explains Mr. Bouziane. Seafood Ecosse achieves a turnover of 35 million euros per year and employs 140 people. It is therefore possible for him to send entire trucks every day. “But we no longer want to share trucks with other suppliers, as we did in the past, because we are becoming dependent on the proper completion of their administrative papers, continues Mr. Bouziane. We do not want to block twelve tonnes of products for sixty kilos of poorly labeled langoustines. “
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