"I was out of work overnight"

Thursday 26 March 2020

Bailiwick residents are being encouraged to support the islands' commercial fishermen, who were effectively left "out of work overnight" due to corona virus lockdowns across in Europe, before the same happened here.

At the moment, many countries which would usually buy produce from the island's fishermen are not accepting imported fish, as part of measures to combat the covid-19 crisis.

The changes, which came into place very suddenly, have left some commercial fishermen struggling to make ends meet.

"Most of the shellfish I catch get exported to Europe; Italy, Spain and France being the biggest buyers," said Guernsey fisherman, Chris Stevens. "Basically, I was out of work overnight. The small amount of shellfish I did usually sell here went to a local merchant who sold it on to local restaurants etc, but local restaurants are struggling as well, so that means the local merchant didn't want my shellfish either.

"I have a mortgage to pay, so I had to try and sell my lobsters and crab any way I could."

He has set up a Facebook page - Chris's Catch - in an attempt to get the island community behind him, by buying his fresh produce.

"I have been full time fishing for ten years and this is also one of the worst winters, weather-wise, that I have seen, meaning we have been heavily restricted on how many days we can get to see and fish," he continued. "That's bad enough in itself and just as things were starting to improve weather-wise, we get hit with this corona virus situation which has made it twice as bad for us!"

The Policy & Resources committee has announced an initial set of plans to help businesses and individuals who are struggling through the crisis, with further details available HERE. Those initial plans include a suspension of mooring fees for commercial fishermen, as they are currently unable to land catch in France or the UK.

"Plans going forward; try and expand my new customer base. But, apart from that there really is nothing else I can do," Chris added. "All types of businesses are going to really struggle and I really think the States need to step in and help us out on paying tax and social security in some way. Self employed people get very little help from the States and that needs to drastically change, or people will go out of business."

Chris sells a variety of fresh, locally-caught lobsters and crabs, which are now available to Guernsey people via his Facebook page.

"I would urge people to support local businesses in any way they can. We have some great local produce here and it would be a shame to lose it, and it benefits the local community." 

Commercial fishing is allowed under the guidance issued this week - for further details, acknowledging that the guidance changes as the situation develops, please click HERE.