The Scottish seafood sector faces losses of roughly £5 million for every day that the French border remains shut, said Jimmy Buchan, CEO of the Scottish Seafood Association (SSA).

"It's all prime Scottish seafood that's affected," he told Undercurrent News, regarding the decision taken by French authorities to close the border to incoming UK freight for 48 hours. "There will be salmon in there, there will be scallops, there will be live lobster, live unprocessed langoustines. This is the biggest seafood week of sales in any calendar year, this is it, and on the final week of trading we’ve been hit by restrictions that have just completely put the supply chain into disarray."

According to Buchan, the SSA has already spoken to two companies with £1 million worth of seafood held up between them at the closed Dover crossing. "So let's be under no illusion, this is significant to our rural seafood processing companies."

Both large-scale and niche processors will be heavily hit if the trade blockade continues, yet it is the smaller players that may take a larger hit, as they will be trading higher-value species, Buchan believes. "Really, it’s the lost value we’re dealing with rather than volumes."

Although fresh seafood can feasibly be delayed for up to roughly five days, every 24 hours lost devalues the product, he explained [...]