Carmichael stands behind fishing industry concerns over new visa restrictions

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today stood behind concerns raised by fishing industry figures about risks to food price inflation and the future success of fishing due to new visa restrictions.

Ann Bell, Aberdeenshire councillor and chairwoman of the North East Scotland Fisheries Development Partnership (NESFDP) warned that the Scottish fishing industry is at risk of being “mortally wounded” by new skilled worker visa rules, and that consumers could face double-digit inflation in the price of fish and other seafood.

Former trawlerman Jimmy Buchan, chief executive of the Scottish Seafood Association (SSA), backed the concerns.

On April 4 the minimum salary threshold for a skilled worker visa will rise from £26,200 to £38,700 per annum, and the UK Government will end the 20% going rate salary discount for “shortage occupations”.

Mr Carmichael said:

“The concerns raised by Ann Bell and Jimmy Buchan this week will be familiar to fishing communities the length and breadth of the country. Ministers in the Home Office have been making up their visa policy on the back of an election leaflet. They are completely clueless of the needs of island and coastal communities. For the sake of campaign slogans this year they risk crippling the fishing industry for decades to come.

“I can say from my own experience that because of this government’s decisions, local businesses are being forced to cut back their operations. This is no way to build up our fishing industry. You cannot pass on a business to the next generation in ten or twenty years if it is shuttered on government orders today.

“Families have taken enough of an inflation hit in recent years without the government making things worse through red tape. Whether it is direct price hikes or long term lost productivity to other ports, it is a pretty grim position that the Home Office is leaving us in.

“The Conservatives have trashed both our immigration system and our economy in the past few years – they cannot be trusted to fix either.”