How our trawlermen lose out

BRITISH fishermen have suffered from EU rules and quotas that allow other member states to fish in UK waters.

Nations that are not part of the EU have a 200-mile ‘Exclusive Economic Zone’ extending from their coastline, which stops other countries fishing nearby without consent.

But EU states signed away their 200-mile zone in favour of a collective approach involving fish quota negotiations, under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Member states still have an exclusive 12-mile boundary, unless they have signed agreements stating otherwise.

The UK loses out under the CFP as a disproportionate amount of fish is caught in the North Sea, which the UK would have greater access to with a 200-mile zone.

Non-British vessels land an average of 58 per cent of the fish caught in UK waters, while British vessels catch only 21 per cent of theirs in non-UK waters.

In 2015 EU vessels caught 683,000 tonnes of fish worth £484million in UK waters, compared with 111,000 tonnes worth Raw deal: Fishing boats in Hastings £114million caught in EU member states’ waters. British fishermen also suffer from the quota system. In 2016 French fishermen were allowed to catch nearly three times the amount of Dover sole as their British counterparts, four times as much cod and five times as much haddock.