Ukraine: Conflict puts £20m Scottish fish market in jeopardy

Fish is being held in cold storage in Peterhead

The effects of the war in Ukraine are stretching as far as the Scottish fishing industry, as it faces the loss of lucrative exports.

Millions of pounds worth of mackerel and herring cannot be exported due to the conflict, and there are also new tariffs on Russian white fish.

Herring and mackerel weighing about 12,000 tonnes is shipped from Scotland to Ukraine and Belarus every year.

The war means it cannot arrive, putting a market worth about £20m at risk.

Peterhead in Aberdeenshire is the biggest white fish port in Europe.

At fish and freezing firm Lunar, lorries should be taking mackerel to Ukraine, however they are not able to get through.

Pallets of fish are piled high inside a cold store at -20C.

Lunar general manager Sinclair Banks said it was an uncertain time.

"At this point in time there are challenges to face, in terms of what do we do with product that is reserved for Ukraine," he told BBC Scotland.

"Do we decide that market is now too uncertain to supply, but then there are humanitarian issues.

"The difficulty is deciding whether you hold that stock hoping that things improve and the customers that are in the Ukraine are able to take the product.

"There is also the possibility that government could intervene along with the Ukrainian government and find a way of entry into Ukraine, for what is a vital food source for the Ukrainian people.

"They need to eat."

Peterhead is the biggest white fish port in Europe

It is not just that export market being hit.

New tariffs mean firms relying on imported white fish could struggle.

Although Peterhead's white fish market is a major player on the European stage, the UK still imports thousands of tonnes of white fish every year from overseas, particularly from Russia.

'Whole lot more expensive'

In 2020 the UK imported nearly 50,000 tonnes.

That import market is now the subject of the latest round of sanctions.

It could see price rises at fish and chip shops - the cost of potatoes, peas and the energy to cook them with have all soared too.

"Like we're seeing as you go to the fuel pump or go to the supermarket, your fish Friday is going to be a whole lot more expensive now," said Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of Scottish Seafood Association, which represents processors.

"Such is the demand from the United Kingdom public to eat fish, the amount of fish we land here locally just does not satisfy that need.

"Sanctions for some is going to be very bad. I think for our own fishing fleet I think it will be a help because it may put a bit more demand they need at this time to offset the fuel prices.

"But equally I've got to look at it from the point of view that these factories need a constant supply, they employ a lot of people, and without that supply of raw material they could get into financial difficulty."

So the impact of tariffs may well soon affect the price of what goes on to dinner plates.

And for those who rely on selling fish overseas, difficult decisions lie ahead on whether to wait for a safe route to Ukraine, or sell elsewhere.