Low prices hit fishermen hard

Wednesday 22nd July 2009, 2:59PM BST.

Michael Mucha and skipper Andy Reynolds prepare the bait as they fish for lobster and crab around the Minquiers on Time ’n’ Tide. Picture by Matthew Hotton (00748629)

THE shocking inequalities suffered by Jersey’s fishermen are today revealed by the Jersey Evening Post.

While diners are paying as much as £70 for seafood platters at some of the Island’s top hotels and restaurants, hard-working fishermen are receiving as little as 75p per crab or £4 for each lobster they catch.

The prices, which have sunk to an all-time low, are now threatening the future of the fishing industry as more and more Islanders turn away from a possible career in the trade.

Don Thompson, chairman of the Jersey Fishermen’s Association, said: ‘We have good fish stocks in Jersey waters and we have excellent fishermen. But we need better prices for what we are catching.

‘Most of the guys on the boats came into the industry on the day they left school. They are really resilient and they will put up with almost anything rather than sell their boats and get another job. But the prices we are getting from the merchants are now the lowest they have ever been, and it is making our lives difficult.’

• A special report in today’s Jersey Evening Post looks back at the industry’s proud history, reports on the life of a Jersey fisherman and examines how Islanders themselves can help boost the struggling business.

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post.

Click here for subscription details.

Individual editions are also available online.

1
david brown

July 22, 2009 at 4:59 pm

bad news to here this, you can be sure that these people who leave the harbour every day, earn every penny.
fishing for a living is not a bed of roses.

Report abuse
2
Mr Fish

July 22, 2009 at 5:22 pm

The truth is that stocks are overfished at an unsustainable rate. If the fishermen had managed after the stocks better then they would still be making a reasonable living, they only have themselves to blame.
I suggest if fishermen are not making any money out of the wet fish they make it a recreational fishery so as local anglers and visiting tourists can benefit from improved fish stocks.
Watch “End of Line” by Charles Clover to get a balanced view….

Report abuse
3
Clare O'Sullivan

July 22, 2009 at 10:20 pm

Very easy to be ignorant when hiding behind a computer!!!!! Maybe the fishermen might get a better price for their managed ‘licenced’ fish if it weren’t for the ‘unlicenced’ recreational fishery selling their catch!!!!!

Report abuse
4
R B Bougourd

July 23, 2009 at 8:53 am

Well, there’s a thing.

Why would I go thinking that this might have something to do with reviving the “Bag Limit” debate, only recently decided to be a bad idea?

Report abuse
5
Frank Castle

July 23, 2009 at 9:13 am

I hate to sound ignorant but why don’t they sell their boats and get another job as Mr. Thompson says they’d never do? There must be plenty of transferable skills they have to do other work.

Alternatively they could simply band together and say they will only sell their produce for a fixed price but if the alternative to selling it at hotel and restaurant prices is nothing whatsoever they’re not in the best bargaining position.

Report abuse
6
Bean

July 23, 2009 at 9:35 am

Hmmm, get it right please, its £4 a pound for lobster and 75p a pound for for crab and if you put that across the tonnage they land, even a poor fisherman can make a good living. Please do give me the ahh!! but we have running costs bit, looking at the general state of the `Fleet’ maintenance doesnt come into it so not a lot of costs there. We wont mention cash in hand and low, if any tax on fuel. Stop bleating and manage your industry properly.

Report abuse
7
Bean

July 23, 2009 at 9:53 am

Richard Heath, very poor reporting, you have been fed information and taken it as gospel, try researching a LOT more and look at over fishing and the local boats that used to land £3000+ a week (not the local channel boats that land £40,000 a week on the mainland). You also havnt looked at all the private pleasure fishermen, if all the small private pleasure boats fish a couple of pots a week adds up to quite a sizable fleet on its own, at a guess 6000 pots all being fished within 200 metres of the shore every day, they sell it some where dont they? Dont forget fishing also includes nets and long lines. You have been as they say,,, Hood Winked MORE RESEARCH BEFORE BANGING ON FOR THEIR CAUSE!!!

Report abuse