Financial aid package for Co Down fishing industry is ‘pathetic’

Financial aid package for Co Down fishing industry is ‘pathetic’

29 October 2025

A GOVERNMENT proposal to allocate the province’s three Co Down fishing reports less than three per cent of a £360m funding cake has been labelled “'inadequate and unacceptable” by South Down MP Chris Hazzard.

The so-called Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund plans to allocate £304m to England, £28m to Scotland £28m, £18m to Wales and just £10m to Northern Ireland.

The Fund was originally announced by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in May, alongside the EU-UK deal on fisheries which gives EU vessels access to UK waters for a further 12 years, with the £360m to be available over that period.

Mr Hazzard has written to Secretaries of State Hilary Benn and Emma Reynolds expressing his concern, describing the allocation to Ardglass, Kilkeel and Portavogie as “pathetic”.

He declared: “This is clearly inadequate and totally unacceptable to address the significant challenges facing our local fishing industry.

“Brexit has been disastrous for our local fishing industry, robbing it of essential funding and support. This allocation from the British government fails to address the needs of our fishing communities following our forced exit from the European Union.”

Mr Hazzard said he has written to the British government demanding a reconsideration of this allocation to more fairly reflect the role played by the north’s fishing industry.

“The Co Down fleet is the beating heart of the industry and it deserves proper investment to train the next generation of fishers and reinvigorate our coastal communities,” he said.

“This pathetic allocation is further evidence of the British government’s systemic disinterest in the north and our people.”

Mr Hazzard said the £10m was little more than a token gesture that will do little to secure the sustainable, long-term future of hardworking fishing communities.

Stormont fisheries minister, Andrew Muir, said he was “disappointed” with the share allocated to Northern Ireland.

He said while pleased that additional funding is to be made available, he’s “deeply disappointed” the proposed allocation for Northern Ireland stakeholders amounts to less than 3% of the overall £360m UK fund. 

“I believe the number of Northern Ireland-registered vessels and the value of their landings, as part of its contribution to the UK fishing effort, provide justification for a larger share of the UK fund.”

Scottish rural affairs secretary, Mairi Gougeon, said that the portion of the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund awarded to Scotland was a ‘totally unacceptable share given the size and importance of the fishing industry to Scotland’s economy’.

She said that instead of the Barnett Formula, the appropriate precedent would be the way the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) was divided between the four nations before the UK left the EU.

Ms Gougeon expressed concern that a move away from ‘the previously agreed approach for fisheries funding linked to fishing effort… may lead to a competitive advantage for the English sector, with greater subsidy of the applicable costs.”

She said the decision must be reversed because it is “unjustifiable and unacceptable”.