Skilled fishing worker crew welcomed into Northern Irish industry

Around 70 international arrivals on skilled worker visas since launch of NIFPO scheme

By Paul Scott

Earlier this year, Fishing News covered the arrival in Northern Ireland of the first group of international crew who entered the UK under the skilled worker visa scheme.

Since then, approximately 70 skilled workers have arrived from Ghana, India and the Philippines under an initiative facilitated by the Northern Ireland Fish Producers’ Organisation (NIFPO). Many of them were fishermen returning to Northen Ireland – very often to the same vessels they had been previously working on under the transit visa scheme.

We caught up with Claire Harding, who administers NIFPO’s Skilled Visa Services scheme, and 28-year-old deckhands Sammy Eshun and Kwesi Annan, who are working on the Ardglass-based trawler Strathyre N 85.

“I like the weather here. It is cool here. Very different from Ghana, but I like working when it is cool,” Kweisi Annan told FN. “I was catching fish in Ghana, now I am catching prawns. That is very different.

“We work harder with the catch than in Ghana, but it is good work. It is safer here, and there is less stress. Everything here is done safely, and it makes me feel much more comfortable.”

Sammy Eshun, NIFPO’s Claire Harding and Kwesi Annan. “I love looking after all the fishermen,” said Claire, who outside of her role with NIFPO regularly cooks for some of the Ardglass-based crews. “I feel that I’m responsible for bringing them over here, and I am super proud and protective of them all. We have built excellent relationships with each other, and they have told me that I look after them all very well. They regularly pop into my office and say: ‘What’s the craic?’”

Kweisi, who spent five years working as a fisherman in Ghana, but had no experience of international work prior to the Strathyre, said it was a ‘very different’ experience to the vessels in Ghana he was used to, but also ‘much better’.

Sammy Eshun singled out the food for praise. “I like the food here. I like potatoes now, and we eat a mixture of Irish food and Ghanaian food. One of our colleagues, Ishmael, goes to Belfast each week, where there is a West African food shop. He brings back food for all the international crew here – fufu flour, plantains… At weekends, we will cook together – although Ishmael also tends to cook a lot for everyone here.

“When the weather is good, we work four days, but we have plenty of time ashore to relax. We can meet friends, or go out and play pool. We watch the football every Saturday.

“The job at sea is just fine. I was fishing for 18 months in Ghana before I first came fishing in the UK – where I have done two years now – but I like it here. I like the working conditions.”

Darryl Valiente, Ehman Ballesta, Jayson Deligero and Jomar Zeta, all from the Philippines, onboard the Ballycastle-based Crystal Tide CE 135. “I often send them a text message asking how they are. Jomar was really struggling with seasickness for the first few weeks,” said Claire. “They were coming into Ardglass to get ice one day. So I went to the chemist and got Jomar some wristbands and seasickness tablets. He told me they worked a treat.”

Sammy and Kweisi are, of course, working abroad as it pays much better than at home. Both have extended families who are reliant on their earnings, and their regular money transfers back home. Kwesi has a 13-year- old son, and Sammy a five-year- old.

“We get free Wi-Fi on the boat, and we talk every day we are able to, when the work allows,” said Sammy. “And of course we miss our families. But the fishing here is good, and we have no plans to go home until the end of the season.”

Another of those to arrive under the skilled worker visa scheme is George Mensah – a familiar face in the Ardglass fleet, having spent almost a decade working for Dominic Harding – Claire’s brother – aboard the Jakara N 336.

Forty-three-year-old George Mensah enjoying his first Irish Sunday roast dinner – cooked by Claire. “He loved it,” said Claire. “He’s never had a roast beef dinner. He told me that the majority of food he eats is rice and beans.”

However, his return very nearly didn’t happen owing to an administrative error prior to NIFPO’s involvement.

“Before I started in this role, George used an agent to complete his visa application – which took three months for a decision. The decision came back that he had been dishonest on the application form,” Claire told FN.

“That stems from when George was deported in 2015 as he didn’t have the correct paperwork in regard to the Ebola virus. He went back to Ghana, did all the necessary paperwork and then came back to work – but his agent didn’t declare that on the application form.

“Following this, I also discovered that George had completed the wrong English exam, as also advised by his agent. For the next three months, I stayed in touch with George and encouraged him to complete the correct English exam. He had lost his confidence and was afraid that he would face another refusal for his visa application, but I continued to ring him every week and support him.

“In May, George passed his English exam, and I completed a very complex application for his skilled worker visa in June.”

Colin Graham, owner of South Shields-based Stella Maris SN 101 and Valiant SN 100, with crew who arrived in May and June through the NIFPO skilled visa scheme.

With the application successful, George arrived back in Northern Ireland on 1 July.

“When George came back, he was happily greeted by us all, and said: ‘Thank you for never giving up on me.’ He has worked for my brother for many years, and knows the job inside out. He is extremely reliable – and feels like part of the family.”

This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here.

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