Net gain for fishing
Trawlermen hail a ‘Brexit bonus’ of £1.7bn if we keep fish caught in Scots waters
LEAVING the European Union will be worth up to £1.7billion to the fisheries industry, say researchers.
Fishing leaders yesterday urged Theresa May to show some ‘political backbone’ in Brexit negotiations as a new report said no longer being tied to the UK could spark a growth bonanza with the industry doubling in size.
Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong warned negotiators to ‘take careful note’ of the analysis and the potential benefits.
The research, by Dr Ian Napier of the NAFC Marine Centre in Shetland, looked at the potential benefits if Britain followed the Icelandic model, with local boats landing 95 per cent of fish caught within the 200-mile limit recognised by international law.
Under this scenario the industry would be worth a predicted £1.7billion, or £1.5billion if access to the EU Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were removed for UK boats.
Under a Norwegian-style model, landing 84 per cent of the fish and shellfish caught from its own waters, the UK industry could still be worth up to £1.4billion, or £1.3billion without EU EEZ access.
Mr Armstrong said: ‘It’s not all penalty and fishing is, if anything, the bright spark – the one bit that, if there is political backbone here, ought to be a rattling success.’
He said it was still a concern that the rights of the industry would be signed away in return for other concessions on trade, adding: ‘This is about business and this report illustrates the potential size. That’s what we’re trying to focus on.
‘It will be a very brave government we think that would do again what happened 45 years ago when, in the dead of night, fishing was sold down the river in an unexpected way. It was the final slate on the roof of entering the EU. Everybody involved in the negotiation needs to take careful note.’
Mr Armstrong said the SFF did not want to ‘shut the doors’ to other nations but a negotiated move towards the Norwegian model was a ‘conceivable end goal’.
While he acknowledged it was hard to put a timescale on any such transition he added: ‘We want to see the most rapid normalisation, so we are not looking at decades.’
In 2016, UK boats caught 36 per cent of all the fish and shellfish landed from the British EEZ, worth £815million, and another £112million from other areas of EU waters.
David Duguid, Scottish Tory MP for Banff and Buchan, said: ‘This report makes clear the huge opportunities to be grasped as we leave the EU.
‘We have said all along that our fishermen must have a fairer share of catch in our waters. At present, just 40 per cent of fish caught in our own EEZ is landed by UK boats, and that must change.
‘Coastal communities have waited for more than 40 years to be freed from the shackles of the Common Fisheries Policy. We must get this right.’
Environment Secretary Michael Gove told MSPs via a videoconference link that work to create common frameworks across the UK would create a ‘partnership of equals’. How these frameworks will be set up, and who has the final say over them where ministers fail to agree, is central to a dispute between the Scottish and UK governments.
He said: ‘I hope we can prove we want to make sure the Scottish Government is fully involved in all the conversations we need to have to make our exit work.’
‘It ought to be a rattling success’