Scallops and queenies are our national dish and the mainstay of the Isle of Man’s local fishing fleet.

But far more of the local catch - around 90% - goes off the island to wholesale and retail outlets in Europe and the UK. And it’s a market which is currently being decimated by Covid-19.

You would expect any industry that could convince the French that they had a far superior food product would be a resourceful one and the island’s fishing industry, which includes not just the fishermen but also the processors and sales teams who market the product, are certainly that.

They have had to be over the last couple of years which have seen king scallop and queenie quotas drastically reduced. But the current coronavirus crisis, coming as it does after a prolonged series of winter storms which saw boats unable to be put to sea for several weeks, might just be too much for the industry.

’We all just felt we were coming out the other side after such unsettled weather earlier in the year, with all those storms when the fleet weren’t getting out, but with this new crisis it really did escalate,’ said Nick Pledger of Port St Mary-based Island Seafare.

He went on: ’The fleet are virtually tied up at the moment. All the key markets, northern Italy, northern Spain, France and the UK are among the worst affected areas.

’There is a local market of course for scallops and queenies but it’s not nearly enough to sustain our fishing fleet. As processors, we can’t keep taking it off the boats and putting it into cold storage.’

Nick said: ’We are still delivering a small amount into France which means having to adapt to the current changes and restrictions, especially as everything has to go through the UK to get there.

’We used to deliver every day into France but we’re now down to once a week. I’m working from home and in regular contact with all my customers in France and Spain, just to keep in touch with them for when we come out the other side of this.’

It’s not just restaurants they supply which have been hit, but many retail businesses as well because all the fish counters have closed down.

Nick said: ’We’ve been trying to adapt quickly and offer our products packaged in smaller amounts, like small grab tubs - we’re just trying to offer something that’s suitable for the current market.

’We’re always trying to be as pro-active as we can but this thing is just monumental.’

Tim Croft and others from the fishing industry are in ongoing talks with DEFA and David Beard of the Manx Fish Producers Organisation (MFPO) to see what can be put in place to help the industry.

The MFPO represents the industry and also plays a role in managing fishing quotas, working together with its 30 members to promote sustainability in the Manx waters.

Mr Beard said: ’The government have been very understanding. They have been hit by something that’s never really happened before and we are not trying to say that we are a special case but this is a critical time for us.

’We are just trying to get to a position where we do have a fishing industry when we come out of this because it’s not just fishermen and processors, we support other industries and jobs too: there’s a big supply chain that’s being hit.’

Fisherman Alex Ironside has fished the Manx waters since he was 15 in his boat Silver Viking. He bought it from his father who had been a fisherman in the Isle of Man since 1968.

Alex’s partner Wendy Hotchkiss, like David Beard, did not want to put the fishing industry forward as more deserving than many others when she described the situation they are in at the moment.

She said: ’We feel really bad moaning about fishing with all that’s going on in the world: we understand that everyone, everywhere is in the same boat and feeling the stress and worries of loved ones, the future and how the world will get back to some kind of normality.

’Fishing has been tough, with the government restrictions [on quotas] and the weather over the scallop season since December has been very hard and financially crippling.

’With the virus thrown in on top we are, as I’m sure all Isle of Man fishermen are, completely stranded.’

Alex had to get another job over the last few months with a local building company to earn some money and to keep mentally stable, but this employment has ended too due to Covid-19.

’I’m afraid this is probably the end of the Isle of Man fishing industry: the [processing] factories have shut as there is no market globally and with the government restrictions over the last few years we have no reserves in the pot to financially ride the storm/virus and bring the industry back on our own.

’We wish everyone the best.’

It is the idea that this really might be the end for the Manx fishing industry that haunts Mr Beard. He said: ’We do a really good job of looking after our waters, much better than the UK, and it would be a real shame if there were no Manx boats left and we ended up with the Manx fishery only being accessed by UK boats.’