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The UK fishing industry will face immediate hardship and lasting damage under the EU’s new deal, industry leaders and boat owners have said.
There is anger that the “marginal” gains in the share of fish the UK fleet will be allowed to catch are offset by the end of the “quota trading” system, which has so far made it possible to conclude agreements between British ships and their continental European counterparts.
Many fishermen, especially those on the south coast of England, are also furious that EU boats can work up to just six miles off the British coast.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said on Monday that the UK’s deal with the EU was the “best possible deal” for the fishing industry as a whole.
Gove also said that a “major funding package” would be announced for the sector in the “very near future” to help it take full advantage of Brexit.
Writing in The Scotsman, Gove argued that UK fishermen are currently entitled to about half the fish in the country’s waters, but by 2026 that figure will reach two-thirds.
But the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organizations (NFFO) said the gains were marginal. Speaking after Gove’s remarks, NFFO chief executive Barrie Deas said there was a growing sense of disappointment and frustration in the industry.
He said: “There have been some marginal changes on quota shares, but we are again tied to an agreement that gives the EU fleet access to our waters up to the six mile limit. We thought that an exclusive 12 mile limit was an absolute red line for the UK. It did not hold.
The NFFO said that so far, the UK’s share in some stocks is increasing only slightly – 10% to 20% for Celtic Sea haddock, for example, while Sea saithe North (coley) increased from 23% to 26%.
Andrew Locker, director of the family-owned Lockers Trawlers, which operates two fishing boats in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, said 2021 was going to be difficult for many working in the North Sea as the trading system of quotas was disappearing.
“I don’t know how the hell we’re going to live 2021,” he said. “We used to trade quotas that we didn’t want with quotas that the French or the Germans didn’t want and that allowed us to set up an annual fishing plan.
“This year we’re going to be woefully short on the amount of saithe, hake and cod that we can catch. I am angry, disappointed and betrayed. “
Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said she did not believe the deal had delivered on its promises.
She said: “The principles the government has said it supports – control of access, quota shares based on zonal attachment, annual negotiations – do not appear to be at the heart of the deal. After all the promises made to the industry, this is extremely disappointing.
There are also concerns about the export of fish from the UK to mainland Europe. Tavish Scott, Managing Director of the Scottish Salmon Producers ‘Organization, said:’ Brexit means the Scottish salmon industry now faces the reality of a lot more red tape, bureaucracy and red tape which is the reality of trade barriers additional.
Irish fishing groups have condemned the Brexit deal as a serious setback. “The deal is a very bad fishing deal for Ireland,” said Seán O’Donoghue, managing director of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organization, one of the industry’s largest groups.
He said conditions looked “even worse” than what first emerged last week when the organization issued a strong condemnation of the deal’s impact, especially on mackerel fishing.
Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, met representatives of fishing organizations on Monday afternoon. Martin acknowledged the serious impact the outcome of the Brexit negotiations would have on Ireland’s fishing industry and said a ‘comprehensive plan’ would be drawn up to address their concerns.
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