Salmon industry plea over staff

SCOTLAND’s salmon industry is facing ‘acute’ labour shortages, business chiefs have warned.

In letters to Tory leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, Salmon Scotland has called for a more ‘enlightened’ approach to immigration to assist a businesses and avoid a so-called ‘trade war’ with the EU.

The body says the industry has 20 per cent fewer staff due to workers returning to their homes in Eastern Europe as a result of Brexit. Processing facilities at Rosyth in Fife, Fort William in Invernessshire and three sites in Shetland are among those that are struggling to recruit workers.

Tavish Scott, chief executive of Salmon Scotland, said: ‘Our businesses are vital to economic performance – not only in economically fragile coastal and rural areas, but across the country in processing, engineering, science and technology industries.’