Saturday 19 November 2016

Day 7: Last day aboard the Aalskerre for Sky News reporter, Joe Tidy.


Sky News reporter, Joe Tidy spent a week at sea aboard the 33m whitefish trawler Aalskerre fishing off the Norwegian coast - talking Brexit with the skipper and crew.

Day 7: The life of a deep-sea trawlerman can be tough on the family. The six men from the Orkney area of Scotland all have wives or girlfriends and kids waiting for them back home. Ship cool Ryan is the youngest on board (hence why he is cook - they call him the "Passionate Chef", ironically). He says "leaving the house is the hardest part of the job".

But it's a job he can't imagine ever leaving. This despite personal experience of disaster and tragedy at sea. He and his brother sank their boat after hitting rocks in 2008 and their father drowned at sea in 2011.

"Fishing is just in my blood," says Ryan. "It's a feeling echoed around dozens of fishing communities in the UK devoted through generations to the industry."

Since the 1970s it's an industry in decline with the landings of fish halving since then and the number of fishermen now standing at around 12,000. Brexit, many hope, will restore the industry to its former glory. But there's much the UK Government must deliver in terms of negotiations with Brussels before then.

Below, learning new editing skills at sea!