Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the (a) covid-19 pandemic and (b) end of the transition period on the income of UK fishing ports.

The Government fully recognises the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the end of the Transition Period on the UK fishing industry and has been taking action to ensure that the industry continues to thrive. This includes announcing a £23 million Seafood Response Fund to support seafood businesses across the UK where they have experienced a verifiable loss due to failures in the EU export processes. And, on 21 February, the expanded Seafood Response Fund for the UK’s fishing and shellfish aquaculture sectors was announced, to target the needs of the whole UK fishing industry. The fund will draw on the existing £23 million but provide cash grants for more fishing businesses. Additionally, we have set up the UK Seafood Exports Working Group which meets twice weekly, inviting the top ten exporters to engage with Defra and HMRC.

The Government is also providing further support to businesses to adapt to new export processes. Defra and HMRC is offering targeted, proactive and hands on support to fisheries exporters to help them successfully meet the new requirements. This includes a new online training package (https://glsr.live/euexportjourney) to guide fish exporters through each step of the export journey and offer tips, lessons learned and advice on what do if difficulties are encountered. We are also offering a series of teach-in workshops providing training on specific steps of the exports journey and related technical areas.