Shake-up call over rules for fishermen
Fishermen want to break free from what they believe are unfair European rules as soon as Britain leaves the EU.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation insist the UK must be able to operate as “a fully-functioning coastal state” and quit the Common Fisheries Policy in March next year.
They say action needs to be taken to “ensure the EU does not have the right to grant access and set f ishing opportunity and management rules within UK waters during the implementation period”.
The SFF say discussions over access to British waters should be on UK terms and that there should be no link between access and trade.
They also called for a nine- month “bridge” to align with the international f isheries negotiations calendar.
SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: “We simply will not accept a continuation of the status quo for almost two years.
“Reciprocal access is anything but – under the present arrangements, EU vessels harvest 10 more fish from our waters than we do from theirs.
“The Prime Minister spoke of ensuring ‘ fairer shares’ for our fishermen – that mus t mean an immediate end to the current situation in which EU vessels are entitled, gratis, to 60 per cent of the f ish in UK waters whi le our own vessels are allowed to catch just 40 per cent.”