Major investment boost for seafood in Northern Ireland
Fish and seafood in Northern Ireland has received a massive boost from one of the region's most successful family businesses.
The McCullough business in Kilkeel, county Down has just completed the development of the £30 million Voyager, now the most sophisticated fishing vessel in the UK fleet.
Built in Denmark by Arnold and Robert McCullough, who now run the family fishing business in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland's seafood hub, Voyager will fish the Irish Sea for pelagic species such as herring and mackerel exclusively from sustainable sources
Robert McCullough says: "Irish Sea herring was the first local stock certified to the international standards of the MSC's (Marine Stewardship Council) stringent criteria and this has been extended to cover the majority of pelagic species harvested by Northern Ireland's small, but extremely valuable pelagic fleet which now includes Voyager, our new vessel."
At 86 metres in length and 4,300 gross tonnes, Voyager is the biggest fishing vessel built to date at Karstensens Shipyard in Denmark. The vessel was privately funded by the Northern Ireland company in an investment which boosts substantially Northern Ireland's interest in pelagic fishing. Currently, most of the industry is focused on prawns and shellfish but businesses see opportunities to grow significantly post-Brexit.
Another significant feature of Voyager, the fourth vessel to bear the name for the McCullough family, is the RSW or Refrigerated Sea Water system. The RSW tanks on the pelagic trawler use the latest technology and could hold over 3,000 tonnes of fish.
The RSW system chills seawater in the ship's tanks to ensure the catch is stored to the highest standards to ensure top quality on voyages between the fishing grounds and landing ports.
However, Voyager is unlikely to be based in its home port, Kilkeel, any time soon as the harbour infrastructure needed for the ship is currently absent.
The Northern Ireland industry has been lobbying for new facilities for bigger vessels in the outer harbour and has gained widespread support. Plans to develop the harbour, however, have stalled due to the region's political problems which have held up budgeting programmes.