Nicki Holmyard

BY NICKI HOLMYARD

Bothered by Brexit

UK shellfi sh producers look back on 2021 as a year of missed opportunities

BREXIT, one year on! Where to start? Unfortunately, a phone around of shellfi sh farmers found not one person with anything good to say about it.

Our industry approached 2021 being told that “it will be business as usual”. We had expressed doubts about this for the previous two years, but had been reassured in wri� ng by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Aff airs (Defra) that we would s� ll be able to export, even in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

It is now almost one year since we transi� oned out of Europe and almost one year since our worst nightmares were realised. It transpired that the UK nego� a� ng team had failed to ask the right ques� ons about expor� ng live shellfi sh, leaving anyone with bivalves grown in Class B waters unable to send them to Europe without fi rst depura� ng the animals. Pre-Brexit, this trade was unhindered.

There followed months of fran� c phone calls, bad-tempered mee� ngs with Defra and the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) offi cials, Ministers, MPs and anyone we thought might be able to help.

We ini� ated a prominent media campaign, with radio, TV, newsprint and online papers eager to highlight another Brexit disaster. Our own company also threatened to sue the Government and we have spent considerable � me, money and energy closeted with lawyers.

Our collec� ve case was not helped by the Secretary of State for the Envi-

ronment placing the blame squarely and very publicly on the shoulders of the European Commission, sta� ng that they had “changed the rules”. They had not: Defra offi cials had failed to understand those rules and had failed to listen to industry, as was found by the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Aff airs Commi� ee in its inves� ga� on of meat and fi sh exports.

A pot of money off ered to shellfi sh farmers to build depura� on facili� es completely ignored the reality, which had repeatedly been explained to the Minister, that buyers in Europe do not want depurated shellfi sh. Depura� on is already an integral part of their own process and to do it twice shortens shelf life. Exports of bulk quan� � es of bivalves from Class B waters represent the majority of produc� on in England and Wales. Ignoring this issue was a huge omission.

Left: Na� ve oysters, Sailors Creek Shellfi sh Above: Queen scallops Opposite: Mussels packed

“It seems as if Ministers have no idea about our business”

Diver� ng such large extra volumes into the UK market is not feasible, because that market does not exist. Mussel sales have been sta� c, if not reducing in the UK in recent years, despite plenty of availability, and to expect an overnight doubling is unrealis� c.

Funds were made available for those struggling to export to enable them to develop home delivery sales, and a number of companies successfully entered this space. Whether they will con� nue in the long term remains to be seen. Sales of shellfi sh in retail and home delivery picked up for a while, as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns, but the same level of interest has not been maintained.

Advice by offi cials to “export outside of the EU” was most unhelpful to bulk suppliers. There is not another con� nent that lies within reach by road, and 20-tonne loads of live, wet shellfi sh packed in one-tonne bulk bags are not air-cargo friendly.

Some people have gone out of business, while others struggle to maintain investor confi dence, due to the ongoing level of uncertainty about future exports. This situa� on has also induced anxiety in employees over long-term job security.

Mar� n Laity, who runs Cornish-based Sailor’s Creek Shellfi sh, explains that his company is “well down on sales since Brexit by as much as 60%.”

He adds: “I have nothing posi� ve to say about this year. The limita� ons imposed by the need to purify all shellfi sh from Class B waters – even queen scallops – are madness. We just can’t get the shelf life we used to, which means we don’t have such a good product and the value is reduced. It seems as if Ministers have no idea about our business – or even care.”

Laity had hoped that a� er 32 years of lobbying by the industry, the water classifi ca� on system would be revised to be in line with the rest of Europe.

“We thought that this would be sorted by the FSA [the Food Standards Agency] and Cefas, that they would overhaul the system and fi gure out how to clean up our waters, and it has been a huge disappointment that they have not sorted it. Yes, we have issues with river pollu� on, but so has every other shellfi sh-producing country in Europe and they manage to have thriving industries,” he says.

He refers to the “� nkering around the edges” with the water classifi ca� on system that the FSA undertook in the spring following intense lobbying from industry, and a report ini� ated by an industry group and undertaken by Seafish that showed that the UK was alone in implemen� ng a severe interpreta� on of the EU Water Framework Direc� ve.

For all shellfi sh exporters, the paperwork burden has increased over the past year, and inspec� ons at border control posts have lengthened journey � mes, resul� ng in higher transport costs, loss of shelf life and the constant threat of a rejected load.

Further changes to EU paperwork are due in January, when a veterinary surgeon will be required to cer� fy and sign off each load. This process will add, � me, money and stress to each export. Electronic cer� fi ca� on, which is another year or so away, may help with this burden.

David Jarrad, Chief Execu� ve of the Shellfi sh Associa� on of Great Britain, explains that producers who supply the domes� c market had not been affected by Brexit and that a general shortage of oysters meant they were not currently looking to export. However, the new rules on Class B shellfi sh mean that such an opportunity is not available to them unless depura� on facili� es are in place.

“The mood for export is extremely dour to say the least and the uncertainty created by the new EU Animal Health Regula� on makes the situa� on even more complicated,” he says.

The UK is endeavouring to tackle the issue of expor� ng Class B molluscs through the offi cial channel of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Commi� ee, but this process is slow and uncertain.

“We made some progress with FSA on water classifi ca� on, but lots more needs to be and could be done to support the sector,” says Jarrad.

It is ironic that the Seafood 2040 and English Aquaculture Strategies promote aquaculture as an important contributor to food security and GDP. Without industry confi dence and a thriving export trade, this will never be realised.

“There is no Brexit bonus and there is no upside to this. It is an unmi� gated disaster and we are simply paying the cost of a poli� cal vanity project,” John Holmyard, MD of Off shore Shellfi sh, says. FF