How will Brexit impact

The majority of Fife-caught shellfish is exported to Europe and yet most fishermen voted to leave the EU

It was described as a modern-day Viking invasion, as Denmark’s industrial fishing fleet raided the sand eel fisheries off the East Neuk.

Throughout the late 1990s, clashes erupted as Scandinavian boats used their small mesh nets to scoop up thousands of tonnes of sand eels, mixed with some undersized fish, provoking fury that these species might have grown into whitefish of a size suitable for human consumption.

After fishing at the Wee Bankie, 25 miles off the Fife coast, the vessels, which had legitimately secured European fishing quotas, would then sail back to Denmark and land their catch there, enabling it to be pulped into animal feed.

But 16 years after overfishing was blamed for the last white fish being landed in the East Neuk, is it fair to blame membership of the European Union and the Common Fisheries Policy for the changed fortunes of the Fife industry or is this accusation simply a red herring?

Fife Fishermen’s Mutual Association (Pittenweem) Ltd (FMA) manager Tom Mackenzie says there’s no doubt the indiscriminate hoovering up of small haddock at the Wee Bankie during the late 1990s had a “big impact” on fish stocks and the marine food chain, and was the “beginning of the downfall” of the East Neuk white-fishing fleet.

Amid wider Scottish industry concern about sustainability of species and getting control of waters, he believes memories of those clashes at least partly explains why the majority of today’s East Neuk prawn fishermen “probably” voted to get out of the European Union when “given the choice”.

Yet despite Brexit happening at a time when the majority of the East Neuk’s £4 million-per-year shellfish catch is exported to EU countries, and despite Pittenweem harbour recently receiving EU funding of £20,000 towards an ice factory and £12,500 towards a new forklift, Tom does not think Brexit will have an impact on the East Neuk fleet.

He is not unduly concerned that East Neuk prawns will be left “rotting on the quayside” of Dover after March 29 next year – so long as the pound remains strong.

“There’s an element of craziness, whereby just about every piece of shellfish currently landed at Pittenweem is packed into lorries and goes to Peterhead or Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, for processing and packing,” said Anstruther-raised Tom, 61, whose late father, Sandy, was skipper of the 50-foot Pittenweem-based vessel the Bright Ray.

“From there it is exported mainly to Spain, France and Italy – hardly ever being sold in Fife hotels or restaurants due to a relative lack of local interest.

“But our products are the best in the world. You can’t get langoustine like we’ve got anywhere else. They (the Europeans) will still want them. They’ll still pay the price. I’m confident of that.”

Today the Pittenweem-based industry is dominated by prawns, crabs, scallops, lobsters, clams and razor fish. The 35 shellfish boats now operating out of Pittenweem mainly fish within 15 miles of the harbour, sometimes spending periods off the north-east coast of England or the west coast of Scotland.

It is a far cry from when Tom started selling fish at Pittenweem fish market at 16, in 1972, when the industry was “totally fish” and langoustine was thrown over the side as there was no market for it.

But as the years went by, fish stocks moved further offshore – eventually making it unsustainable for East Neuk fishermen to reach them. Some East Neuk fishermen blame EU quotas for the local white fish industry’s demise. The CFP, which aims to conserve stocks, gives all European fishing fleets “equal access” to EU waters, meaning EU boats are given a share of catches in British waters at the expense of British boats.

The EU Council of Ministers, guided annually by European Commission scientific advisers, determines which member states are allowed to catch each type of fish, and how much. After quotas are fixed, each EU member state is responsible for policing its own. When all the available quota of a species is fished, the EU country has to close the fishery. This means that fish are often thrown overboard after being caught; yet as they are dead, this does not aid conservation.

However, rising fuel costs, the impact of global warming on fish species migrations, and seals stealing catches have also been blamed.

Nationally, the white fish industry has seen a fundamental shift whereby large “industrial” trawlers from north-east Scotland, and Europe, dominate the mid-North Sea.

Yet with fish stocks apparently still plentiful north and south of the Tay and Forth estuaries, another theory is that chemicals washing from fields into estuaries could be to blame for the demise of fish stocks off the Fife coast. However, the Scottish Fisheries Federation says it has no evidence of this, while the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said waters around the Tay and Forth estuaries are today classed as “good”.

Our products are the best in the world. You can’t get langoustine like we’ve got anywhere else. They (the Europeans) will still want them. They’ll still pay the price. I’m confident of that