Business
Seafish 2024 fishing fleet survey heading to Wales
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FISHING vessel owners and skippers encouraged to join the annual survey of the UK fishing fleet from Monday 15 July
Seafish researchers will again be heading to harbours and ports around the UK this summer.
From July 15, Seafish, the public body that supports the UK seafood industry, will be conducting its fishing fleet survey to learn about the financial performance of fishing businesses and the demographics of their crew.
In Wales, the survey is scheduled to be hosted by Seafish fleet researchers Badis Khiari, Zachary Wong and Emma Kearns.
The process also gives vessel owners and skippers the opportunity to share details on how their business has fared in the last 12 months.
Seafish is encouraging all vessel owners and skippers to participate in the survey, as their input is instrumental in ensuring the fishing industry in the UK is moving in the right direction. The interviews take no longer than 15 minutes to complete and all responses are treated as strictly confidential, with no figures from any individual vessel revealed elsewhere.
This year researchers will be handing out a free First Aid at Sea Guide for every skipper or vessel owner that participates.
Juan Carlos Paredes Esclapez, Economics Project Manager at Seafish said: “Our fleet survey is an essential tool for monitoring the performance of our fishing industry. By taking part in this survey, vessel owners and skippers can help create an understanding of the challenges they face as well as new opportunities.
We encourage as many fishing businesses and vessel owners as possible to get involved in this year’s survey. The data collected is crucial for guiding policymakers, industry stakeholders, and businesses, ensuring the sector is prepared to tackle future challenges effectively”.
Fishing businesses who take part in the fleet survey can request a free benchmark report which compares their vessel’s economic performance to similar vessels and can help identify areas for improvements. It can also be used as evidence in grant or loan applications.
During last year’s fleet survey, many fishing vessel owners responded to the survey. Seafish’s Economics of the UK Fishing Fleet report for 2023 will be published later in the year, but initial findings show:
- On business performance over the previous 12 months, 24% rated it poor or below average. 41% rated it average and 35% rated it above average or excellent.
- On the outlook for business over the next 3-5 years, 17% rated it bad or very bad, while 37% rated it good or very good. Most people (46%) were neutral or unsure about their future performance.
- The most mentioned factors to recent performance were abundance of catch (36% of respondents), operating costs (30%), the price of catch (25%) and access to labour (20%). Abundance and price of catch were seen as positive influences by most respondents, while operating costs and access to labour were seen as negative.
Labour continues to be a pressing issue for the UK fleet and the 2023 survey included a specific question on access to skilled labour, including UK and foreign crew.
Nearly half of respondents reported that this issue did not apply to them as they were single-handed vessels but among the remaining 201 people interviewed, 71% rated their access to skilled labour as bad or very bad. A tenth of respondents reported being negatively affected by changes to the transit visa regulations.
In general, 2023 findings suggest a slight improvement in vessel owners’ and skippers’ moods about their business performance.
How to get involved:
The schedule of when researchers are visiting areas across the UK is available on the Seafish website at www.seafish.org/fleetsurvey. Vessel owners can look out for researchers in ports and harbours across the summer.
Those who want to pre-arrange an appointment to take part in the surveys can email [email protected] If you have questions about the survey or enquiries about how industry estimates could be used to support your business, please contact the fleet survey team on [email protected] or 07966 764150.
Business
West Wales airport most people have never flown from under new management
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A NEW group has taken over the operation of Swansea Airport after what were described as high-level talks with the site’s owner, Swansea Council. Swansea Airport Stakeholders Alliance is running the airport on a temporary basis after the previous leaseholder agreed to relinquish its lease.
The airport will continue to operate, and the council said it would soon start a process to find a long-term tenant. Council leader Rob Stewart said: “We’re delighted to have the alliance in place as a temporary new leaseholder. They’ve started running the airport and its members are eager to make a success of it.”
Council joint deputy leader David Hopkins said: “We’ll start to look for a long-term solution through a competitive tender process. The alliance will have the opportunity, with others, to bid in that process. There’ll be opportunities for future investment in Swansea Airport.”
The council said a range of issues with the previous tenant had arisen over recent years, resulting in the existing lease being brought to an end. It did not envisage any additional cost to the taxpayer and said the airport would remain open.
Bob Oliver, chairman of the alliance, said: “Today marks the culmination of three years of intensive work by the alliance. I pay tribute to the skill and professionalism of alliance members, of our stakeholders and of the council, who have put their faith in us to secure a brighter future for the airport.
“Our first task is to take stock of what we have inherited and then begin to bring the airport back to life – to make it a welcoming place to visit, to start delivering social, environmental and economic benefits to the council and the people of Swansea and to make it a facility we can all be proud of.”
Business
Local builder named as top finalist in Screwfix Tradesperson Awards 2024
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SOLVA builder Chris James is constructing his way to the top after being shortlisted for the final ten of the 2024 Screwfix Top Tradesperson Award.
The 37-year-old, who has been in the construction industry for the past 15 years, will now go head-to-to-head with nine other finalists from across the UK and Ireland after beating off fierce competition from over 1,000 applicants.
Chris’s company, Kingsmere Carpentry and Construction, is also committed to raising funds after securing over £50,000 for the children’s charity ‘Farms for City Children’. The charity enables children from disadvantaged communities to find out about working on farms in the countryside.
Chris is also committed to working sustainably bu using waste responsibly by using excess wood to fuel fires. He also plans to invest in a new fleet of electric or hybrid vehicles for use in his company.
In addition to gaining the coveted title, the, the winner will take home a trade bundle of tech, tools and training worth £20,000.
The finals take place at Screwfix LIVE on Friday, September 27 where a panel of industry experts will put Chris and the other finalists through their paces before selecting this year’s overall champion.
Business
Nearly 100 new homes ‘for local people’ approved in Tenby
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A CONTROVERSIAL Tenby housing scheme with nearly 100 “local houses for local people” which will be visible from the island of Caldey has been approved by national park planners
In 2018, Pembrokeshire County Council, which already owned the 15-acre Brynhir site on the edge of Tenby, ‘bought’ the land for £4million using its Housing Revenue Account.
Campaigners fought a two-year battle against the use of the land for housing, calling for protection for ‘Tenby’s last green space’ and fearing it would become a ‘concrete jungle’.
The county council was granted outline planning permission by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority for the development of 144 properties – including up to 102 affordable units – in 2020.
It is now proposed that only 125 houses will be built, 93 of them affordable, and, of the 32 Open market dwellings, 16 are shared ownership properties.
Amendments also included the removal of a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), one of two Local Equipped Area for Play Spaces (LEAPS) instead providing a multi-use space for ball games.
The reserved matters application, backed in principle by Tenby Town Council, was recommended for conditional approval at the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park development management committee meeting of September 4, despite being contrary to the provisions of the Development Plan.
Tenby Civic Society has raise numerous concerns to the scheme and 20 objections were also received from members of the public, raising concerns including loss of green space, traffic issues, privacy, design, visual impacts and the scale of the development, sewage capacity, the site being no longer allocated for housing, potential antisocial behaviour within the play area, and a limitation on second homes/holiday lets being required.
At the September meeting, concerns about the proposal were raised by Jane Merrony of 1,100-member Tenby Green Space Preservation Society, who said it was inappropriate in its proposed location and “a visual intrusion which will be seen from Caldey Island”.
She told members the scheme would place “extreme pressure” on existing waste water infrastructure and questioned the viability of the development, with fears it could be sold off to a private developer.
The application was passed by park planners after approval was moved by Cllr Di Clements, who expressed her difficulty in weighing the balance between green spaces and housing needs.
Speaking after the meeting, local county councillor, and committee member, Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall said building work was expected to start next year, adding: “These will be let on a local letting policy – they will be local houses for local people. They can’t be sold, they will always be council housing.”
She added: “I believe that this is a hugely important decision for Tenby. We need housing for local people and I am delighted that 93 properties will be council housing. This is good news for our Schools and good news for Tenby. Properties will be let on a strict local letting policy, which means Tenby and the immediate surrounding area only.
“I would like to congratulate the teams from Pembrokeshire County Council on getting to this stage but I also say loudly and clearly that the real hard work starts now and we have to do all that we can to ensure that these properties are built as soon as possible. We have a housing crisis now and need these properties built and let to local people.
“I know that not everyone will be happy. There are people who opposed the scheme for quite legitimate reasons but in the end, for me the balance of the argument was in favour of the scheme and the housing it will provide.”
Fellow Tenby councillor Michael Williams welcomed the scheme but raised concerns about foul water drainage.
“The initial proposal was to run foul water in a North Westerly direction with a new pipeline and despite reassurances from Dwr Cymru I still have major concerns about the capacity of the existing system to deal with such a large development. There are also in my opinion unaddressed concerns regarding storm water runoff and inadequate landscaping on the southern boundary.”
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