At the home of Northern Ireland's largest fishing fleet, the implications of the Brexit deal and coronavirus weigh heavily on the minds of hundreds of Kilkeel fishermen.
hile boats have continued to fish during the pandemic, plummeting prices for fresh fish as restaurants stay closed and uncertainty over new quota arrangements have some questioning their future.
On Thursday afternoon, the main source of activity on the quiet harbour front was at a family run Fish and Chip van as locals queued up for lunch.
Owner Wayne McCulla (47) has been able to keep his takeaway business going, but he is just as concerned by supply issues as anyone.
"The fishing industry down here is a big thing and if it was hit in the head, it would trickle right down around Kilkeel," he said.
"It could well be a concern for our supplies too, we get our fresh fish from the harbour and local suppliers.
"We're lucky that takeaways have been able to continue but we really want to see more certainty for smaller businesses."
Meeting the Belfast Telegraph at the harbour was Harry Wick, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers' Organisation (NIFPO).
He said fishermen were "hugely apprehensive" about the current uncertainty of fishing quotas, with different UK regions now "fighting for the scraps".
"Northern Irish fishermen own about 8.4% of the total fishing quota in the UK, a fairly small proportion overall," he said.
"What we're afraid of is that the other administrations, disappointed from the additional opportunity from Brexit, are coming to look for our share (expected to be around an extra £19.1m worth of fish). It's making us very nervous at the moment."
He said the pandemic and the uncertainty of Brexit had caused "a hugely challenging" year for the fleet in Kilkeel and across Northern Ireland.
"Many vessels have had to tie up because of the Covid crisis, 2020 is a year we're glad to see the back of.
"A lot of our members have been in real danger of going bust during this crisis. Fortunately we were able to secure government aid schemes which allowed most of them to make it through the year."
Hopeful for a more prosperous 2021, he said the eventual reopening of the hospitality sector would breathe life back into the industry.
"We still have a world class product to sell, so there's always going to be a demand."
He said charities supporting the mental health and wellbeing of fishermen over the last year has been a vital service. "We're very grateful for that, but there's no doubt that was provided because there was a need. The effect this has had on fishermen and their families has been pretty severe," he said.
Even without the recent setbacks, Mr Wick said attracting new blood to the industry remained one of the biggest challenges as the current generation retires.
"If you go into schools now very few kids have the ambition of wanting to be a fisherman, and I think that's just because society's expectations are changing," he said.
"Less school leavers are looking for a manual job. It's a hard life as well, so retirement age is usually lower which exacerbates the challenge."
He said headaches over post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including reports of empty supermarket shelves, also open up new obstacles for the local industry.
"There are challenges faced by companies, particularly those that buy fish from Scotland and England and bring them to Northern Ireland for processing," he said. "They are facing challenges with the Irish sea border. That's because a lot of businesses elsewhere in the UK weren't as Brexit ready as those here."
Further along the harbour, one fisherman of more than 40 years carrying equipment off his smaller boat said he felt under far greater pressure than the larger crews.
Unwilling to be identified for fear of criticism, he said fishing for prawn and crabs in the local bay area had been temporarily suspended.
"If that stays closed it's not going to be good for the wee boats, that's where we all fish," he said.
"It would mean we're finished. I've been fishing nearly all my life, and it's been in my family for generations.
"It's been very poor for us recently in terms of prices. I'm not going to get out now for another three months."
Bringing his gear inland till things change, he said there was a feeling that trade unions fought harder for larger boats that made more money.
"The big boats can travel further away, but the wee boats can't do that. So we're dependent on fishing those waters," he said. "We've been fishing them for the past 100 years and now all this has happened.
"I'm 63 years old, I would have started when I was around 16 or 17, a brave few years ago.
"There's no younger people coming in now. It's very hard to see a future and it's not going to be good for the next few years in terms of prices I believe.
"I'm at that age now and I'm nearly jiggered as it is, so I can't see me going on too long.
"I had a couple of younger fellas with me who had to leave as we just weren't making enough money even though we would be out there trapping for a week or two at a time."
Waiting nearby for his fish supper was handyman Fergal McGinn, aged in his 60s, who said experience had taught him the current pressures of Brexit and Covid will pass.
"I live about five miles out of town. I don't do my own cooking, so when my wife died I come in here to get food," he said.
"I try not to worry too much about Brexit and coronavirus, I just try to do my own thing and if it affects me it affects me.
"If you have to pay a bit more for something then that's just how it has to be. It's not just now that you get things like this, over the years you always get challenges."
He added: "I'm self-employed as a general handyman and it has affected my work a bit, but I've put off inside jobs and just worked on as many outside projects as I can."
Speaking later on the phone, prawn fisherman Graham Cully (36) from Portavogie has taken to selling his produce directly from his boat, with a new business called Green Pastures Seafood.
"It's very concerning at the minute, prices are down especially with whole prawns that are down by 50%," he said.
"It's just been like a perfect storm for us with Covid and Brexit.
"A lot of people are fed up with how things worked out last year but our side business is going well, local people are mad about getting fresh fish off the boat. If we can get more people to eat local stuff that would be perfect for us."
