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Rooney Fish based in Kilkeel, Co Down has shipped its first order of seafood to China. Photo: Oliver McBride
Northern Ireland based seafood company, Rooney Fish has shipped its first order to China since the COVID-19 pandemic began back in December.
The news was reported in today’s Irish Times and in an interview with the newspaper, Managing Director of the company Adam Rooney warned exports could suffer due to the impact of Covid-19 on freight routes.
The family run business based in Kilkeel, Co Down annually exports around 800 tonnes of crab to China and also exports its own brand of Pacific oysters, Millbray, which are grown in Carlingford Lough, to customers throughout the region.
In December the export of seafood to countries in East Asia came to a stop as authorities came to grips with the coronavirus outbreak that came to be known as COVID-19.
Recent news from East Asia is that the market for seafood is slowly growing, especially in China where life is gradually getting back to a new type of normal.
The challenge facing fish exporters now is transporting their product to the markets as Mr Rooney told Francess McDonnell of the IT “Because flight carriers have dropped off and there are only a few flying to China, we are trying hard to get space on flights. We’re also trying to send containers of our product to overseas markets but now there is also a big problem getting ships that are sailing.”
Source: The Irish Times
