In a speech in the House of Commons, Mr MacCleary spoke primarily on behalf of his home town of Newhaven. He told fellow MPs it is essential to invest in coastal infrastructure but was also grateful for the recent £12m investment in landing stages and processing facilities. For this he also thanked Lewes District Council and his predecessor, former MP Maria Caulfield, who supported the bid for funding.
But he said it was essential to do more on behalf of the fishing business. For example, the industry requires more people if local fisheries were not to give way to multinational firms such as the EU megatrawlers which, he says, 'deplete fish stocks, disrupt wildlife and send their catches to distant markets.' This, he said, loses vital local jobs.
He wants young people to see the positive aspects of fishing and consider it as a potential career choice and in a separate statement, told the Sussex Express: "My speech was about one simple truth. Coastal communities like Newhaven are being quietly hollowed out. We still have the boats, the skills and the will but without fair access to fish stocks and infrastructure that genuinely works for the fishing community we are exporting jobs, losing young people and watching generations of family businesses slip away.
"Fishing cannot be treated as an afterthought or a one-size-fits-all industry dominated by multinational trawlers. I was encouraged that the Minister appeared open to coming to Newhaven to meet out fishers directly, because if Government is serious about growth, sustainability and food security, it must listen to small fleets on the ground, cut the red tape and back coastal towns to take control of their own futures."
He acknowledged fishing crews' tough and dangerous jobs, describing how, in November 2020 a Newhaven trawler had sunk, taking the lives of two fishermen.
Ian Bickerstaff, 70,boss of Bickerstaffs, based at West Quay Fisheries, Newhaven is happy the MP is taking up the case on behalf of the local industry. But he said there are many complexities involved, and would like to meet him and explain the issues that face so many small coastal fisheries, attempting to catch, process and sell the fish and shellfish that help keep us healthy. He went on: "It's like a jigsaw puzzle - but before any useful work can be done you have to know all the pieces.. You have to ask, 'what can they really do?'"
He went on: "The Sussex Express has been good to us. I'm happy to get together with my team and explain the processes we must go through to get fish to your table." And he repeated his wish to talk to James MacCleary about the future of the industry and what can be done on the ground (and at sea) to help it now.
The late Queen and Prince Philip visited West Quay Fisheries in October 2013 and met Ian Bickerstaff and his team.