Moving targets:Shifting seafood by land, sea and air has become more challenging

摘要

This month we look at transport, and the problems and solutions of moving salmon by road, sea and air amid the turbulence of Covid-19 and Brexit. What other trouble could be lurking over the horizon? During the pandemic, the Scottish Salmon ProducersOrganisation (SSPO) said export sales of Scottish salmon were hit hardest by the closure of food service sectors in vital markets like the USA, EU and China, plus a lack of long-haul passenger flights to these destinations, and a consequent spike in freight charges. A lot of freight, including perishable goods like fresh salmon and seafood, is carried in the belly of passenger aircraft, but without that airliner capacity, the cost of getting produce air freighted on a cargo plane soared. In April 2020,the first month of a UK lockdown and travel restrictions, it was estimated 8,500 aircraft were parked, with only a quarter of the global capacity in operation. Passengers at Edinburgh Airport plummeted from 250,000 a week to as few as 200. That month, per kilo, air freight rates went up around ten-fold.