BURRY PORT: Historic cockle factory ‘mothballed’ following ‘most challenging season in living memory’

The Burry Port factory that has been jarring cockles since 1948 has been mothballed, with eight people made redundant.

Parsons Pickles has stopped production at its Ashburnham Works site after what its owners call one of the cockle fishery’s “most challenging seasons in living memory”.

Colin Macdonald of parent company Lenger UK confirmed the site is “basically mothballed for now”, though the management team and some key staff remain in place.

The company says the beds have emptied. “Several cockle beds have closed earlier than expected, while the overall quantity of cockles harvested has fallen to exceptionally low levels,” it said in a statement.

It was that shortage, it says, that forced the job losses. “As a direct result of this shortage, the company has had to take the very difficult decision to make a number of production employees redundant.”

Cockles are the heart of the business. The company says they “represent approximately 60% of its activities” and that the shortage is therefore “having a particularly significant impact”.

Lenger UK said the decision was not taken lightly. “Parsons is a family business with a long history, and we understand that behind every employee are families and individuals who have contributed to the company over many years.”

“The owners and management sincerely regret that these difficult measures have become necessary,” it added.

The company is not calling this a closure. It says the owners “remain hopeful that conditions in the fishery will improve later in the season”, and that production could restart “when this can be done on a sustainable basis”.

The management team stays put. It “will continue to look after the business, its customers and its people during this period”, the statement said.

At Penclawdd, Lenger Shellfish “will also continue operating as normal”, processing what is still being landed in south Wales.

Those cockles are leaving Wales to be handled. “Given the exceptionally low volumes, these cockles will be transported to the Group’s facility in King’s Lynn, where they can be processed efficiently,” the company said.

Established in 1948, Leslie A. Parsons & Sons has been part of the south Wales shellfish community for generations, and the company says it has built a strong reputation for its quality jarred shellfish.

The owners insist the firm has a future. “We believe strongly in the company, its heritage, its people and its place within the Welsh shellfish industry,” the statement said, describing the measures as a response to an exceptional season “and not a reflection of our commitment to the business”.

The company thanked its employees, customers, suppliers and the wider local community “for their continued support and understanding during this difficult period”.

The Burry Inlet and Loughor estuary is the most important cockle ground in Wales, and its stocks have been unstable for decades.

Research by Swansea University published in 2022 found fishable stocks had dwindled across the 50 years to 2009, with cockles getting smaller and dying younger.

Dr Ruth Callaway, who carried out that work, linked the decline to the modernisation of wastewater treatment in 1997, which cleaned up the water but stripped out nutrients the cockles fed on.

Lenger UK says it will keep monitoring the fishery and keep its stakeholders informed.