This is the first honour I’ve received and it’s a nice way to end my career

This is the first honour I’ve received and it’s a nice way to end my career

7 June 2017

DICK James is arguably one of the most instantly recognisable figures in the fishing industry, given his distinctive silver locks and rich West Country accent steeped in his proud Gloucestershire roots.

After almost five decades working in the fishing industry — a vocation which has taken him to some exotic locations across the globe — Dick has been presented with a prestigious award.

At a glittering ceremony held recently in Aberdeen, attended by the cream of the fishing industry, the Ardglass man was presented with a lifetime achievement award during the annual Fishing News awards ceremony.

The awards celebrate the hard work, ingenuity and successes of the UK and Irish commercial fishing industries.

Dick was delighted to be presented with the award by Fishing News editor David Linkie — an award many in the Northern Ireland fishing industry and beyond say the Ardglass man richly deserves.

Dick (73) was nominated for the lifetime achievement award last year and while he missed out, he did have a lot do with Billy Hughes from Pittenweem on the east coast of Scotland winning it as he has been nominated by the Ardglass man.

“I knew before the recent ceremony started that I was one of five people shortlisted for the lifetime achievement award and it was great to win it, alongside Andrew Bremner from Wick,” said Dick. “The fact someone nominated me for the award is humbling and I was 

delighted to win it. This is the first 

honour of its kind that I have received and it is a rather nice way to draw a line under a career.”

Dick won one of the top awards in recognition of his work as the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers’ Association (NIFPO) and representing fishermen’s interests on many committees and groups at EU, UK and regional levels.

Having spent 47 years working in the fishing industry, with 34 of them dedicated to his role with the NIFPO looking after the interests of fishermen in Ardglass, Kilkeel and Portavogie, Dick is currently helping his successor, Harry Wick, settle in before he says goodbye for good to enjoy retirement in Ardglass which is now home.

Born in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, Dick came to Northern Ireland in the early 1970s after graduating from university to take up a role with the Department of Agriculture’s Fisheries Division which at the time was based in Queen’s Street, Belfast.

“I was a fishery officer responsible for giving out grants which meant I was very popular,” he quipped. “After two years in this role I spent a year running a fish factory in Glenarm before going into business with a fishing boat in Ardglass alongside Geoff Palmer.”

Dick was then recruited by the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), an arm of government, who sent him to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific to assist in the development of a fishery to forward its economic development in readiness for independence.

“This was in the 1970s and it was a busy time,” recalled Dick. “I helped develop things and establish a tuna industry.The extension of the 200 mile fishing limit was also something the Solomon Islands took full advantage of.”

Dick revealed that his time in the Pacific States paved the way for his appointment as the chief executive of the Forum Fisheries Agency based in the Solomon Islands.

“The organisation represented 14 island states plus New Zealand and Australia and I held this post for two years before taking a job with the UN’s Food and Agriculture base in Kiribati in the middle of the Pacific to build up its fisheries base,” he continued.

In 1983, it was back to Ardglass which has been home ever since. Dick took a job with the NIFPO and over the past 34 years has witnessed many changes within the fishing industry, on land and at sea.

The next big event will be Brexit and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, a move which he believes will be good for the local fishing industry and the economies of the three Co Down ports.

Dick added: “I believe Brexit will take the fishing industry back to where it was 30 years ago. Over the years fishermen have been short changed in what they have been given by the EU, particularly in relation to quotas.

“Brexit means the local ports will get out of the Common Fisheries Policy which does not recognise national fishing limits, just European waters and who can have what share of fishery resources.

“I believe Brexit can benefit local fishermen and the economy and while I understand people have other views on its impact, from a fishing point of you, you can’t dispute that Brexit is going to be a plus.”