Tag Archives: Jimmy Buchan
New Peterhead festival to champion north-east seafood
Europe’s top white-fish port will provide the backdrop for a new north-east food and drink festival this autumn. SeaFest Peterhead has been organised to champion the area’s valuable seafood sector. Organisers are already hailing the new addition to the Blue Toon’s social calendar as a “must see”. It is due to take place at the harbour on Saturday September 9 from 11am to 4pm. Billed as a “fin-tastic” extravaganza to “shell-ebrate” the bounty of the sea, it will showcase the rich fishing heritage of Peterhead and the wider north-east region. >click to read< 09:15
Hook, Line, and Sinker: How Brexit betrayed the UK fishing industry
Retired fisherman Charlie Waddy, former first mate of the Kirkella, knows what’s at stake on the ocean. His close friend died while working on deck beside him; his father was lost at sea returning from Iceland and Norway when Waddy, the youngest of seven children, was just three years old. But for the desperate hand of a nearby crewmate, Waddy himself nearly went overboard, his chances of survival slim in the frigid and pulsating waters below. Believing evocative memories of trawlers departing for distant seas might be reclaimed, Waddy voted for Brexit. He said he now felt betrayed by politicians who extoled the benefits of leaving the EU but then failed to deliver. “I wish I never,” he sighed. “They told us everything that we wanted to hear.” Photos, > click to read< 08:30
New measures announced to boost Scots seafood industry
The Scottish Government has published its first strategy for the seafood sector, detailing how the fishing and aquaculture sectors are being supported to remain internationally competitive and attract skills and talent to some of Scotland’s most rural and coastal areas – despite the challenges of the post-Brexit trading environment. The strategy also highlights ongoing work to monitor and manage the marine space, so that consumers can have confidence in the sustainability of Scottish seafood. >click to read< 07:49
Jimmy Buchan: energy costs will drive fish processors out of business
Mr Buchan has sent a letter to the two candidates vying to become Prime Minister, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, ahead of their campaigning visits to Scotland tomorrow. In the letter Mr Buchan, the chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association, warned that on top of Brexit and Covid, escalating fuel costs were having a “devastating impact on our ability to remain viable”. Meanwhile, the body representing the fishing industry has also issued an open letter to the prospective PMs. Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, highlighted the need for “fairer decision making” over use of the seas in order to prevent fishing becoming “collateral damage” ahead of the spansion of wind farms. >click to read< 15:21
Trawlermen fish firm crowned UK small business of the year
A Peterhead fish firm that switched from wholesale to e-commerce has landed the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) Small Business of the Year 2022 award. Amity Fish Company, led by Jimmy Buchan, star of the BBC’s Trawlermen TV series, netted the overall prize at the event hosted by TV personalities Clare Balding and JJ Chalmers in Glasgow yesterday. During the pandemic, the business switched from exclusively supplying restaurants and the hospitality trade, to delivering seafood products directly to people in their homes. > click to read < 10:06
Scottish fishing chief blasts latest Good Fish Guide as ‘blatantly anti-fishing’
Jimmy Buchan has branded a prominent marine preservation group as a “blatantly anti-fishing organisation” after it urged consumers to stop buying crab and lobster landed in the north-east. It is its latest Good Fish Guide, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) found that Shetland brown crab was the only “best choice” option in the UK. Now Scottish seafood processors have launched a scathing attack on the charity over misleading advice given in its latest guide to sustainable fisheries. >click to read< 17:49
Scottish fishermen say their industry is in crisis after Brexit
Scottish fisherman Alistair Sinclair hasn’t taken his boat out since March of last year, the beginning of the pandemic. Sinclair has been a fisherman for over 40 years and says the industry has never experienced a crisis quite like this one. The crisis he’s referring to is not the pandemic — it’s Brexit. Since Jan. 1, when Britain formally left the European Union, truckloads of fish have been stopped at ports on both sides of the English Channel.,, Sinclair says Scottish fishermen are within weeks of declaring bankruptcy. >click to read< 12:21
Scottish seafood left to rot with exports tangled in Brexit bureaucracy, exports could grind to a halt
The Scottish Seafood Association said exports to the EU are being hindered by “red tape” delays in Scotland and France. It claims as many as 25 trucks were backlogged for clearance due to IT problems in Boulogne on Tuesday. Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association, said: “Trucks laden with fresh seafood are being held up in central Scotland due to problems with customs barcodes and lack of veterinary service capacity. >click to read< 12:25
Monkfish Price Tumble in Scotland Shows Pain of French Shutdown
At the Peterhead fishing port in Scotland, prices for haddock and monkfish were inverted on Monday, skewed by a closed border with France and a ticking clock that threatened to render some of its catch worthless. The price gyrations mark the latest setback for the U.K. fishing industry, With French borders closed since Sunday, thousands of pounds of seafood could be left to rot in lorries that would normally speed through the Port of Dover to Europe. “This is the most important sales week of the year and it’s been caught up in a hurricane,” said Jimmy Buchan, chief executive officer of the Scottish Seafood Association. “We’ve got Brexit, we’ve got Covid and now on the back of Covid we’ve got this further restriction.” >click to read< 10:34
Jimmy Buchan warns no-deal Brexit ‘will hurt’ Scottish fishing industry
The warnings come just days after the final round of scheduled talks between London and Brussels broke off, with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier accusing his opposite number, David Frost, of not showing “any true will” to reach a deal. Since the outset of negotiations the EU has demanded “status quo” access to UK waters, which would essentially mean a continuation of the common fisheries policy, something that has been categorically rejected by Boris Johnson. Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association, told the Commons environment committee that, despite the differences, a deal must be done “no question”. >click to read< 16:57
Cod Crusader Carol Adams wants Scots to boycott French produce
She believes consumers should stop buying wine from France’s best grape-growing regions, Champagne and Camembert cheese because French retailers are turning their backs on Scottish fish. The row sparked when the Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association (SWFPA) claimed French fishers had applied pressure “through political routes” to make sure France’s largest retailers only purchased their catch – including fish from Scottish waters – at auction. SWFPA chief executive Mike Park said: “The genesis of their actions is unclear but understood to be linked to poor returns for a quantity of French fish. “What is clear is the impact their actions will have for Scottish fishermen, with exports of fish to France now reduced to very low levels. >click to read< 17:18
David Duguid: Coronavirus putting “huge strain” on sector – There is no question that the Covid-19 crisis is putting huge strain on our seafood sector. Boats that should be out fishing are tied up in harbours across the north-east. >click to read< scroll down.
Coronavirus: North-east fishing chiefs fear Holyrood funding package may not be enough to rescue ‘all’ of industry
More than 1,000 businesses dependent on fishing are now eligible for financial assistance. The scheme will help businesses operating a vessel larger than 12 meters, about 40ft, to land shellfish by providing capped payments of up to £21,370. Those operating more than one boat could be eligible for up to £42,740. Chief executive of Peterhead-based Scottish Seafood Association, Jimmy Buchan, said the processing sector welcomed measures to ensure it would still have catches to sell. He said: “I welcome the new funding and I hope it is enough to save all of the industry, and not just part of it. “Fishermen and processors play a significant role in feeding the nation, now even more so. We play an important part in keeping people healthy.” >click to read< 07:23
Celebrity trawlerman enjoys new lease of life on dry land
While the fall in the pound since the Brexit vote has provided a boost for exporters a veteran of the fishing business sees opportunities to grow UK sales of a Scots product that does well in Europe. Name: Jimmy Buchan. Age: 56. What is your business called? Amity Fish Co Limited. Where is it based? Peterhead, in wonderful Aberdeenshire. What does it produce? We are a fish trading company focused on sourcing wild-caught Scottish seafood for distribution throughout the UK.,, Why did you take the plunge? Amity came about because of my passion for seafood. Being a fisherman all my life, I met a lot of people in the industry and I felt I had a platform to start a brand from sea to plate. I realised I wasn’t just catching fish but catching fish with a story of provenance and sustainability which gave me the inspiration to get into the seafood supply chain. click here to read the story 10:53
Fishing For Litter: We’ve got ‘healthier’ fish after success of the sea litter scheme
It may be a load of rubbish but for the fishing industry, the discarded waste being piled up at harbours across Scotland is netting them a prize catch. Fishing boats once dumped junk they hauled up in their nets back overboard. Now they bag the refuse and take it to port to be disposed of. The Fishing For Litter scheme has just reached the milestone of pulling 1000 tonnes of potentially dangerous refuse from the seabed. Jimmy Buchan, who starred in the BBC TV series Trawler-men, documenting the work of fishermen, said: “When we first started it, we would maybe lift a tonne of rubbish in a trip but I know it is working because now we hardly fill the bottom of a bag. “What we have done means that we are having an environmentally positive effect.” Read the story here 12:07
Jimmy Buchan: Embrace Brexit for the sake of fishing industry
All arguing aside, the country has made a choice. It’s a fast-moving situation as we all know with new political shockers hitting the news wires on an hourly basis. The First Minister has certainly done well over the past week to make sure she was in there good and early with a strong message that Scotland doesn’t want to be dragged out of the EU against its will. I applaud her media-savvy team on this, but what she’s guilty of forgetting is that Scotland is still in the UK, and regardless of the majority, a huge number of Scots want to leave. The UK made a decision as part of our democratic society which we should accept. My fishing industry colleagues and I don’t want a situation where we’re being dragged back into the EU against our will. Ms Sturgeon should concentrate on working with the UK government rather than against it. I started a career in the fishing industry over 40 years ago and in that time there have been huge changes. I have witnessed colleagues and friends forced out of business and lose their livelihoods, all under EU governance. Although I’ve enjoyed good and bad years, I cannot console myself that the current EU treaties work in my best interests or ever did when I have witnessed what fishing communities right around the UK have had to endure. I’m also well aware that other industries have also endured economic hardship because of EU powerhouse decisions. Read the rest here 08:47
