The UK fishing industry will face immediate hardship and long-term damage as a result of the new European Union agreement, market leaders and boat owners claim.
There is anger that the “marginal” gains on the share of fish the UK fleet is allowed to catch may not outweigh the end of the “quota swap” system, which has allowed deals to be struck between UK boats and their ships. counterparts from mainland Europe.
Many fishermen, especially those on England’s south coast, are also outraged that EU boats can operate as close as ten kilometers off the British coast.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said on Monday that the deal the UK had struck with the EU was the “best possible deal” for the fishing industry as a whole.
Gove also said a “major financing package” for the industry would be announced in the “very near future” to help it take full advantage of Brexit.
Gove wrote in the Scotsman that British fishermen were currently entitled to about half the fish in the country’s waters, but by 2026 this would have increased to two-thirds.
But the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organizations (NFFO) claimed the profits were marginal. Following Gove’s comments, Barrie Deas, the CEO of the NFFO, said there was a growing sense of disappointment and frustration in the industry.
He said: “There are some marginal changes to quota shares, but we are again bound by a regulation that allows the EU fleet access to our waters up to the six mile limit. We thought a 12 mile exclusive limit was an absolute red line for the UK. That is not the case. “
The NFFO said the UK’s share of some stocks was growing only slightly for now – 10% to 20% for Celtic Sea haddock, for example, while North Sea pollock (pollock) rose from 23% to 26%.
Andrew Locker, the managing director of the family-owned Lockers Trawlers, which operates two fishing boats from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, said 2021 would be a challenge for many working in the North Sea as the quota exchange system was lost.
“I don’t know how we’ll get through 2021,” he said. “We used to exchange quotas that we didn’t want with quotas that the French or Germans didn’t want, and that allowed us to draw up an annual fishing plan.
“This year we will be woefully short of the amount of pollock, hake and cod that we can catch. I am angry, disappointed and betrayed. “
Elspeth Macdonald, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said she did not believe the deal delivered what was promised.
She said: “The principles that the government said it supports – control over access, quota shares based on zonal attachment, annual negotiations – do not seem to be central to the agreement. After all the promises made to the industry, that is very disappointing. ”
There are also concerns about the export of fish from the UK to mainland Europe. Tavish Scott, the chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organization, said: “Brexit means that the Scottish salmon industry is now facing the reality of much more red tape, bureaucracy and paperwork that are the reality of the additional trade barriers.”
Irish fishing groups condemned the Brexit deal as a serious setback. “The deal is a really bad fish deal for Ireland,” said Seán O’Donoghue, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organization, one of the largest groups in the industry.
He claimed the conditions looked “even worse” than first appeared last week when the organization issued a damning condemnation over the deal’s impact, especially on the mackerel fishery.
Irish Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, met representatives of fisheries organizations Monday afternoon. Martin recognized the serious impact that the outcome of the Brexit negotiations would have on the fishing industry in Ireland and said that a “comprehensive plan” would be developed to address their concerns.