UK will ‘own’ sea and fish up to 200 miles off coast under new law

chief political correspondent

BRITAIN will “own” the sea and the fish in it up to 200 miles from the coast for the first time in decades after the UK leaves the European Union, under plans set out today.

The Government is proposing a “zonal attachment” way of deciding which country owns the fish and how they should be shared out.

A fishing White Paper sets out ways for “fairer” allocation of fishing opportunities based on the distribution of fish stocks and moving away from a system based on fishing patterns from the Seventies. The “zonal attachment” scheme will replace the current European Union fishing quotas which give EU trawlers the rights to take 60 per cent of the fish in UK waters up to 12 miles from the coast.

The decision by Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, and Theresa May, the Prime Minister, to publish the White Paper before the Brexit talks begin will make it much harder for officials to trade away fishing rights as part of the negotiations.

One fisheries source said the plans gave the industry the chance “to double in size”.

Mrs May said: “I have been clear that when we leave the EU we will take back control of our waters, while ensuring we don’t see our fishermen unfairly denied access to other waters.”

The UK will continue to abide by the Eu-wide Common Fisheries Policy during the transition period.

Bertie Armstrong, of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said: “There is a long way to go, and we now need our governments to show real backbone in the Brexit negotiations to ensure that these aspirations become reality.”

Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said: “Outside the EU, the UK will be an independent coastal state. This will provide the basis to rebalance quota shares and implement effective and adaptive management measures.”