Scotland’s salmon farmers have incurred losses of at least GBP 11 million (USD 15.3 million, EUR 12.7 million) as a direct result of the changes brought about by Brexit, the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) has calculated.
According to the trade body, bureaucracy, paperwork, delays, and confusion arising from the new trade arrangements with the European Union that followed the end of the Brexit transition period have left producers counting the cost.
Since 1 January, 2021, salmon farmers have experienced considerable delays, some of which have resulted in lost orders, failed deliveries, unharvested fish, and heavily discounted products at market – with an immediate loss of sales to the tune of 1,500 metric tons (MT) of product, it said.
There has also been a delayed harvest of some 700 MT of salmon in order to minimize any fish becoming spoiled or destroyed.
SSPO has calculated that the sector has also experienced various increasing costs which are unrelated to production, amounting to GBP 200,000 (USD 278,087, EUR 231,240) in January alone.
These overheads are the cumulative result of additional export documents and resources, logistics costs, administrative and veterinary costs, and through lost custom as a result of reduced confidence in the supply timeline, it explained.
“This cannot be the ‘new normal.’ Our members cannot guarantee reliable delivery times to the European Union, which is our biggest overseas market. The systems need to be streamlined and a lighter touch adopted on all sides to make sure we can continue to serve our European customers as we have in the past. If not, they will go elsewhere and we will lose both trade and customers,” SSPO Chief Executive Tavish Scott said. “We are calling on both the U.K. and Scottish governments to work together with us and with the supply chain to make sure there are no more blockages in the system which prevent our members from getting their fish to market on time.”
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