The Scottish seafood industry has called for priority passage on ferries and through the Channel tunnel as the Calais immigrant crisis takes its toll.
While some north-east hauliers specialising in frozen fish have made efforts to bypass logjams between Dover and Calais through other European ports, shell fish and white fish producers have seen their sales hit by as much as 80% in recent weeks.
Industry bosses have warned that north-east processors are on the brink of collapse, as delays in Kent cause havoc with exports.
Will Clark, chairman of the Scottish Seafood Association, took part in a conference call with the industry and fisheries minister Richard Lochhead yesterday, where the calls for fast-tracking of trucks carrying perishable goods was made.
He said seafood hauliers are heavily reliant on the Dover to Calais route as it is the “cheapest and quickest” route to the main European fish hub at Boulogne.
“We rely on this route to market,” he said.
“We have members that have not received orders for four our five weeks from their clients because we can’t agree a delivery time. They have sought alternnative suppliers from Europe. We are losing market share daily.
“Live langoustine trade is down by about 80%. White fish trade is down by as much as 40% to 50%
“We have processors that since this situation has evolved in the last four five weeks, they are showing losses of up to £20,000 per company because of loss of trade.
“It is coming to a crunch point. If nothing is done soon, possibly we may start to lose processors.”
But other routes such as through the ports of Rotterdam and Zeebrugge are getting busier as those who can take longer to make deliveries avoid Calais.
Ross Gordon, cold store and transport manager at Peterhead firm Lunar Freezing, said:
“With regards our company we have incurred serious delays over the past two-three weeks.
“We have had to make different arrangements instead of coming back via France, to bypass Calais and Dover and come from Holland and Belgium.
“It’s not industrial action that’s causing this problem for us, it’s illegal immigrants trying to enter the UK via ferries and via the Eurotunnel – but I do understand the position the migrants are in.”
“There are now waiting lists at a lot of these ports because so many companies are trying to avoid Calais
Mr Lochhead has expressed his frustration at the lack of progress over the current situation in Calais, following urgent talks with processors and transporters earlier yesterday.
He pledged to press the UK Government again to prioritise lorries carrying perishable goods such as seafood.
He said: “Like the sector itself, I am increasingly frustrated at the UK Government’s apparent lack of progress in responding to the threat to Scotland’s seafood sector due to the situation at Calais.
“Seafood exports are worth five times as much in Scotland as the UK as a whole – which means Scottish seafood producers are being disproportionately affected by the on-going Channel Tunnel disruption.
“It was also agreed we need fresh thinking on alternative routes. The fish processing sector will determine their requirements, ahead of further talks scheduled to take place on Thursday.”