A charity which supports current and former fishermen and their families is hoping to raise funds through Guernsey’s love of sea swimming.
The Fishermen’s Mission offers practical and financial help to active and former fishermen, sea-going staff working the in the aquaculture industry, and migrant fishermen.
Hayley Hamlett is the Mission Area Officer for the South East of England and the Channel Islands.
Through the Fishermen’s Mission, Ms Hamlett is able to arrange financial grants to support fishermen and their families during difficult times. They can also access medical treatment through the charity.
Ms Hamlett also offers emotional support and can signpost fishermen and their families to other organisations which may be able to help them.
Ms Hamlett often visits Guernsey and was here during the summer when she told Express that the problems facing our fishermen through the growing number of octopus has grown dramatically over the past year.
“When I came last year, it was just starting to be an issue with octopus in the waters around the islands,” she said.
“This year, I’ve come back, and it’s a much, much bigger problem than we feared, really. It’s costing the industry and it’s costing the fishermen an awful lot of money. It’s costing them an awful lot of morale too,” she said.
“They are literally going out and some pots can have three or four octopus in and no crab or no lobster, but lots of carcasses of crab or lobster, and they’re also eating a lot of scallops. And you know, usually scallops can be pretty much all year round, but not at the moment.”
Money raised through the ‘Big Dip’ over the next week will go towards helping fishermen in need during times of hardship.