Recently Scottish Fishermen’s Federation Industry Advisor John Watt took time to meet with Jean Lanteigne and a delegation representing the French-Canadian fishing industry for a tour around Fraserburgh Harbour.
John was able to share with the party the offshore opportunities from the oil and gas industry that operates here in Scotland, which are afforded to the Scottish fleet. Work as guard vessels/ trawl sweep vessels etc is not something that is available in the St Lawrence basin and for the fishermen, without the prospect of this work, maintaining a viable business is even more difficult.
John described the meeting as an “opportunity to discuss the challenges fishermen face on different sides of the Atlantic. It didn’t take long to discover that the problems encountered are very similar. In Canada too there are restrictions on days at sea and quota, which leaves the fishing communities very frustrated – particularly given the appearance of an abundance of stock.”
Jean, the Chief Executive of FRAPP (Fédération régionale acadienne des pêcheurs professionnels) – Federation for Professional Acadian Fishermen, five fishermen and an administrator were visiting Fraserburgh and Peterhead before travelling to London to attend the International Cold Water Prawn Forum.
The group were members of the l’ACAG (l’Association des Crevettiers Acadiens du Golfe) – the association representing the shrimp fishermen from the Acadian Gulf, which comprises of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. L’ACAG as well as APPCA and APPME make up FRAPP.