Dr. Cecil Beamish:

We have done an assessment and have over 100 incidents of damage from the previous storm. Yesterday’s storm was not coincidental with a high tide. While it did damage on water and land, it did not have the same impact as the other storms. I must add we did not get full feedback on it this morning. We think we know the projects and will work with the local authorities on the schemes.

The local authority will decide on the priority in which it presents the projects. It is a matter for the local authority as it knows best on a county level which projects should get priority and in what rank they should be ordered. This is normal and it is the way such schemes have run in the past.

Many inshore pot fishermen do not fish through the winter months to avoid the hazards we are dealing with now or the fishery might not be seasonally suitable. The funding is directed to address people who have lost pots. We do not have a national record of who fishes in November and December. We need to get the evidence that people were fishing from, say, sales of shellfish and so forth, as we want to target the funding at those who actually incurred losses.