A “help-to-buy” scheme for fishing vessels could secure the industry’s future, a Labour MP has suggested.
Anna Gelderd, MP for South East Cornwall, also called for funded training pathways, warning that communities in her constituency are being “diminished”.
She told the Commons: “Not just by the greatly reduced number of vessels, but just how hard it is for them to make a living and to support their families and communities like mine.”
During a debate on the fishing industry, she continued: “If we are serious about the future of fishing, we must make accessible for that next generation.
“Young people currently cannot step aboard a fishing vessel until the age of 16, even though this is prime age for learning practical skills.
“We also lack structure support, mentoring that allows traditional knowledge, safety guidelines, and best practice to pass between generations.
“A properly funded mentoring and training pathway – alongside help to buy schemes for boats, licences, and quota – would make fishing a realistic career again, rather than a closed shop.”
MPs also warned fishing companies could be severely affected if rules on overseas hiring end in December, with Torcuil Crichton, Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, warning his constituency is likely to be “significantly impacted”.
Mr Crichton said his constituency off the west coast of Scotland had been affected by depopulation, which has left a lack of working-age people.
The then-Conservative government brought in changes in 2023, which made it easier to hire fishermen, skippers and deckhands from overseas for fishing vessels over workforce shortages.
He said: “The Government’s support in flexing these requirements would be appreciated, and the effect of that is quite obvious.
“A skipper from the Western Isles got in touch with me recently to say that seven years ago when he had a local crew of seven, he is now forced to employ three crew members from Ghana and his son and himself now skipper the vessel back-to-back to fish every opportunity and make sure that they pay the foreign crews the right wages, which are considerably more than he and his son take home.”
Jim Shannon, the Democratic Unionist Party MP for Strangford, said the December “cliff edge” for skilled worker visas was “really worrying” for the industry in his constituency.
He said: “The fishing industry needs a dedicated immigration route for fishing crew, post-2026 preferably in the form of a bespoke visa.
“This will protect British businesses, while a recruitment drive seeks to source more domestic labour for the fishing industry in the long term.”
Seamus Logan, the SNP MP for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, said Home Office visa restrictions were “suffocating the growth of fishing in Scotland”.
He demanded that the minister lobby the Home Office so that industries in his area can thrive.
“Please don’t try and tell us that we need to hire local people,” he said.
“This mythical workforce sitting at home twiddling their thumbs simply does not exist, because we are at full employment in my constituency, and efforts to recruit young people into this industry are simply not working.”
Food security minister Dame Angela Eagle said it was “hard” to recruit into the fishing sector.
“Entry into the industry requires significant investment,” she said.
“In this context, the ability to change and adapt is very important, and fishing has a good record in doing this.”
Turning to visas, Dame Angela promised the sector’s concerns would be “properly represented” to Home Office ministers.