‘The only thing we need is people’

By Stephen Castle

Workers sorting shellfish at Scot West Seafoods in Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland, in this file pic from June 9, 2025. Bucking the anti-immigration trend in British politics, remote areas of Scotland would like to attract foreign workers to offset declining local populations. — Andrew Testa/The New York Times

LATE into the evening, five men worked briskly inside a shellfish processing facility in north-west Scotland, sorting live ­lan­goustines and packing them into ­polystyrene boxes destined for France, Italy or Spain.

At peak season, Scot West Seafoods could employ twice as many staff – if only the company could find them.

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