To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail the steps being taken to facilitate Northern Irish lobster and crab fishermen selling to EU markets; and for his assessment of how the effects of (a) Brexit and (b) COVID-19 have impacted on this trade.

My Department has engaged closely and routinely with stakeholders throughout the pre- and post-transition period of Brexit in order to keep the Northern Ireland Fishing Industry and Seafood Sector informed.

Commencing in July 2020 and running through to the end of the transition period, a number of external webinars have taken place for the Fishing and Aquaculture sectors. These events kept stakeholders up-to-date on new information, emerging issues that had the potential to affect their business, and requirements post-transition. A specific Inshore Fisheries stakeholder event for the crab and lobster sectors was held on 11 December 2020. This included a number of exporters of crab and lobsters, Producer Organisations and fishermen themselves.

In addition a number of one to one meetings have taken place with individual businesses in this sector, the purpose of which was to provide information and a greater understanding of the I/NI Protocol, in order to allow them to look at the EU trading route options available to them.

In terms of an assessment of the impact of Brexit on the sector it has not been reported to us as one of those that has been significantly affected as a result of EU Exit and this is mainly attributed to the fact that the export of both these products has continued, albeit through a direct route to the mainland EU markets via ROI, which has experienced little disruption compared to the problems experienced when exporting from GB to the EU mainland.

This sector has however been significantly affected by the impact of COVID 19 due to the loss of export markets and the closure of the local hospitality sector. In response, since March 2020, my Department has provided the crab and lobster fleet with £394,000 towards their fixed costs of operation to offset lost market opportunities and reduced prices. I have also encouraged such vessels to apply to the UK-wide Seafood Response Fund that provided financial assistance for the same issues relating to the first three months of 2021.

I am committed to engagement with the industry representative groups on this matter. I am always receptive to considering any proposals that may emerge relating to the shipping of produce to established, or indeed new, export markets for our quality shellfish.