FISHING may not seem the most glamorous career choice to some young people these days, but the North Thames Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) wants to dispel this myth.

Flag also wants to ensure Leigh remains a major fishing port for many years to come.

With most of Leigh’s 18 fishermen and cocklers now over the age of 40, and many hitting retirement age, Flag are making a callout for the next generation of fisherman to step forward.

The Flag committee held two consultation meetings in Leigh in recent weeks and have now launched an appeal for youngsters to join the fishing industry locally.

FLAG’s latest newsletter says: “Leigh fishermen are crying out for young people to train.

“We will be recruiting school leavers from May and June this year.

“You will go through a selection process to make sure this is the occupation for you.”

“Budding fishermen, or fisherwomen, will start their fishing career as deck crew trainees.

“Once you have passed the interview process with the skipper you will be offered a trip at sea as trainee to see how you perform on deck and taking orders and using initiative.” The job description continues: “Once the crew is happy with how you work you will be offered a position as trainee crew.”

Recruits will be expected to undertake a sea survival course, and most would take home a minimum wage pay packet plus a share of the catch, depending how the company operates.

Director of Thames Estuary Partnership Pat Fitzsimons says that although Flag are now actively recruiting, they haven’t had any interest in the roles yet.

Fishing might not be the career of choice for today’s youth – after all, according to the jobs website Glassdoor, all of the top 25 best jobs to apply for in Britain in 2018 are office-based.

Fishing recruits will have to get adjust to being away from home for long bouts, as normally, fishing boats operate between 12-36 hours at sea with rest periods, and many vessels fish at night and anchor at day.

“Hours can be long,” admits Ms Fitzsimons, “but they are rewarding”.

“With the correct training you can become a fishing skipper in the UK, and you may be able to own your own fishing vessel.”

Flag member and Leigh councillor Bernard Arscott says that although a fisherman’s life can be “tough”, there are plenty of advantages.

He said: “Its an outdoors, hands-on, healthy sort of life, with plenty of opportunity to work your way up the ranks.”

“Fishing in Leigh used to be a family affair, with sons taking over the boats from their fathers.

“But as the fishing industry has contracted over the years, many of the fishermen’s sons have developed different careers outside the industry.

“We are also looking at ways to encourage young people to go into careers allied to the fishing industry – the maintenance of fishing boats, fishmongering and researching fish stocks for example,” he added.

Flag are also considering offering a fishing apprenticeship and qualifications to entice young people into the industry.

Leigh fisherman Paul Gilson agrees there is a need for young fishermen to join the ranks. However, he argues that there must be secure access to the fish before new blood is brought in, “to make sure that we can give the young recruits a future”.

“Its bad with the amount of development in the area, and the shortage of dover sole – there are not enough opportunities for fishing” he said.

“To train young people up now, it’s like setting up a vegetable facility in the desert. It will create jobs, but we need to know first that plants can grow in the ground.”

The drive to recruit new fishermen is just one way that the North Thames Flag are securing the future of fishing in Leigh.

They are channelling £800,000 worth of improvements, allocating more than £35,000 of £53,547 from the European Maritime Fund to improving shore-based facilities, such as storage and improvements to existing infrastructure.

The remaining £18,547 will support aquaculture, processing and marketing projects and developments.To find out more about opportunities te-mail p.fitzsimons@ucl.ac.uk