Islay
McLeod's
Scotland

Net losses

Peterhead is one of the main fishing towns in Scotland – or so I thought. The industry has changed dramatically over the past decade with government intervention, or lack of it, having a debilitating effect.
     First, I visit the Fishermen's Mission on the harbour front. The tearoom has a simple lay-out with lots of fishing memorabilia. Superintendent George Shaw explains that six years ago the fishing industry was declining and many boats were decommissioned. But the industry seems to have pulled through one crisis after another and I am assured that fishermen are clever, hardy men, who will fight their corner. So, an unexpectedly optimistic diagnosis.
     At Peterhead Port Authority there is less optimism. I'm told that boys once went to sea as young as 15. All they needed was a boat and the basics, usually passed down in succeeding generations of the same family. The authority would often help them to acquire shares in a vessel. With the introduction of quotas, this age-old custom was lost.

Superintendent George Shaw is optimistic about the future

One of the few boats entering the harbour at Peterhead

The Assistant Harbour Master at Peterhead Port Authority first went out to sea at 15 years old

But what do the fishermen themselves think?
     One of the regular haunts of the fishermen is the Union Bar, a small basic pub almost as brown inside as it is out. Looks closed and uninviting, but I push the door and unexpectedly it opens. A deck-hand called Sid says that the number of boats in his time has declined from 400 to 40. The quotas mean that few can afford to stay in the industry. The fishermen often throw back as many fish as they catch.
     At the Harbour Lights, I find an older crowd. Propped at the end of the bar I speak to a retired fisherman, Ian Baird, who entered the industry at the age of 15 and stayed with it for 39 years, following on from his grandfather and father. He sounds glum: thing won't improve; the fishermen have not been as well treated as the farmers; self-employed tax is a burden in January and July. But his friend offers a different perspective. 'Never mind the fishermen,' he implores. 'What about the welders?'

The Union Bar, almost as brown inside as it is out

Despite the troubles Sid (left) tells me about, locals seem to have held on to a sense of humour

Another brown bar, but with an older crowd inside

After 39 years Ian Baird left the industry

With rising fuel prices fishermen are in financial crisis. It costs twice as much to take their boats out as it did two years ago – fuel accounting for half their daily earnings. The Scottish Government has recently issued a three-year plan, investing £29 million to help the ailing industry. But is it too little too late?