Fishing boats in South Down could be forced out of business if they cannot be crewed by foreign workers, it has been warned.
That was the concern raised by a Newry, Mourne and Down District (NMDDC) councillor this week as he called for the local authority to lobby the UK Home Office on the matter.
Concerns over the affect Brexit will have on the future of the fishing industry in Kilkeel and Ardglass has seen a cross party agreement with regard to local skippers being able to employ crew from outside the UK.
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On his motion, Downpatrick SDLP councillor, Dermot Curran said: “I come from Ardglass and I know what is happening, we need to employ foreign workers. The locals don’t seem to want to work on the boats.
“I spoke with an employer this week and he told me that without foreign workers he’d have to close down. We need to get the government to grant workers the licence they need to have a future successful fishing industry in Northern Ireland.”
An amendment to the motion was agreed to change the working licence from a seasonal term to an all year round licence.
Mournes DUP councillor Glyn Hanna said: “My family has been fishing for seven or eight generations or probably longer. There have been a lot ot men in the past who have lost their lives at sea to benefit us to have fish in our diets, we need to show fishermen support.
“Most of the boats are skippered by locals and they have difficulty getting foreign workers as they can only get a licence for six months before they have to leave in apply to come back.
“The biggest difficulty has been Brexit, it is not what the fishermen voted for, they have been badly let down. We need the Protocol sorted out properly if the fishing industry is to return to what it was before.”
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