Association seeks States support for fish freezing

The association said it had faced problems selling its produce since Brexit

Jersey's fishing industry could get help in selling its catch across the world if the government assists, a local fishing association has said.

The Jersey Fishermen's Association said a private investor had offered to process, freeze and distribute their produce worldwide.

Don Thompson said the offer depended on the government's assistance.

Kirsten Morel, Economic Development Minister, said there was "work we need to do" on assessing the plan.

Mr Thompson said: "The strategy has been in place for months and we're finding that the support that was promised is just not there and none of us seem to be able to get a response of any sort the from the Economic Development Minister."

In October, the government confirmed post-Brexit fishing licences for French boats had been extended for up to four months.

Officials from Jersey and France are discussing the conditions to be attached to licences granted to 138 French boats.

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Freddie Watson from the Blue Marine Foundation said: "The longer these delays go on for the more difficult it will be to manage our water sustainably, and the higher the impacts will be as well."

Mr Morel told BBC Radio Jersey: "We are still doing the work to understand the best way to develop an economically viable marine economy in Jersey.

"It's about looking for new markets, looking at the infrastructure: should things like a fish processing plant be here in Jersey, so that we can take the fish straight from the fishermen, process that here and send it out to different markets?

"There is no point investing in a fish processing plant if you don't know whether it's going to be successful in increasing the scale of the industry, so that's the work we need to do."

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