A Newlyn skipper says that the decline of the fishing industry is reason enough to scrap proposals for a seafood park at Newlyn Coombe.
Shaun Edwards, a full-time commercial fisherman who runs a family business and employs five local men, says that the recent news that the port's biggest employers - W Stevenson & Sons - had warned of possible cuts to workforce and vessels is a clear indicator that the industry is now in a state of decay.
"There are no youngsters coming into the industry because it's a dying trade.
"If you don't believe me then just ask any skipper from the catching sector which way the industry is going.
"They all say the same - and that is that its on the way down," he said.
The skipper, owner of the netter Nova Spero and part-owner of the Harvest Reaper, is vehemently opposed to controversial plans to build a £4m seafood park on a greenfield site - and says that if the plans go ahead the only people who will benefit will be the fish merchants, not the catching sector.
He believes that the merchants are backing the scheme so that they can turn their existing premises into apartments to let.
"In effect they are diversifying and securing an alternative income for themselves elsewhere because they know as well as we do that their income from buying and processing fish and shellfish is and will continue to be on the decline."
Mr Edwards has also criticised Newlyn Fisheries Officer Tony Woodhams flagging up the need to encourage all fishermen operating in Area 7 to land their fish in Newlyn to strengthen the seafood park case.
In a recent edition of The Cornishman Mr Woodhams said that if there are going to be less fishermen operating in and out of Newlyn, all Area 7 fishermen would need to be encouraged to land at Newlyn rather than Brixham or the Breton port of Douarnenez.
The skipper says that Mr Wodhams is in "cloud cuckoo land" as Douarnenez is itself a struggling port.
"There are no boats left working there, they were all sold or scrapped about four years ago and it's now just a toy-town port.
"The same situation faces Guilvinec.
"That port is set to lose 80 20-metre boats in the next year because they are running at a loss.
"And as for Brixham, well no skipper would sail past Plymouth and its state-of-the-art market and technology to get to Newlyn.
"It is only a minority of the Brixham boats that will come here."
Shaun Edwards warns: "In five to seven years time Newlyn will also be a toy-town industry with only small day boats.
"It needs trip boats for a scheme like the Seafood Park at Newlyn Coombe."
He also discounts claims that the creation of a park would generate local employment.
"It won't. We all know what will happen. It will generate employment but only for eastern Europeans - Poles, Russians and Latvians - because they are cheap labour.
"Some of the local merchants employ them now - and one in particular has a mostly eastern European workforce. So it won't mean jobs for locals."
Mr Edwards says that instead of money being ploughed into a seafood park, it would be better spent invested in the catching industry and its mostly 40-50 year-old vessels.
If proposals for a seafood park do go ahead then it should be sited on the Long Rock Industrial Estate, he says.
"It's only a mile or two outside of Newlyn and would alleviate traffic problems. If its a good enough venue for Marisco Fish, then surely it's good enough for all the other merchants and processors."
Shaun Edwards is the first to 'put up his hand' and admit he doesn't want a seafood park in "beautiful countryside" and near his own home.
"Yes I live near the proposed site - and no, I don't want it on my doorstep.
"But that aside, this isn't the area for it.
"Environmentally its all wrong and will only result in a beautiful site ruined.
"And for what? An industry that is dying."
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