UK ‘will net record catches’ with deal on fishing
SCOTLAND’S fishermen will enjoy a record catch as we take ‘full control’ of our waters, it was claimed last night.
A key member of the Brexit negotiating team spoke out in response to criticism that Boris Johnson ‘bottled it’ over fishing rights in the new EU trade deal.
The mediator said: ‘The crucial thing on fisheries policy is that although there is a transition, at the end it returns to normal arrangements and we have full control over our waters.’
The UK Government has faced a fierce backlash from fishermen and fishing organisations about the Brexit trade deal.
It asserts the ‘sovereign rights’ of EU states and the UK ‘for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing the living resources in their waters’.
Importantly, it outlines that the EU will hand over 25 per cent of its current fish quota to the UK, worth £146 million a year.
This will happen after a transition period of five-and-a-half years, to allow EU fishermen to seek other fishing grounds.
However, some fishermen say Mr Johnson secured only ‘a fraction of what the UK has a right to under international law’.
The trade deal grants full access to each other’s waters until June 2026. However, the amount of access each party has will change over time.
The EU’s share of North Sea cod and haddock will reduce, while the UK’s share will rise.
Shares of plaice and herring in that same area will remain relatively stable as we retain access.
From 2026, there will then be annual negotiations on the extent of European access.
Critics say the UK Government has guaranteed long-term access for EU boats and accused Ministers of a U-turn.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: ‘They said that “tying fishing to a trade deal” was a red line that must not be crossed. But that is precisely what they have done. They have agreed to the worst of all worlds – a hard Brexit deal including a fisheries deal that, in their own words, means we have left the Common Fisheries Policy (CFO) in name only.’
Meanwhile the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations said that the deal ‘will inevitably be seen by the fishing industry as a defeat’.
Chief executive Barrie Deas said: ‘Despite the legal, moral and political strength of our case, fishing was sacrificed for other national objectives.
‘The Prime Minister caved in on fish despite the rhetoric and assurances that he would not do what Ted Heath did in 1973.’
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also claimed that promises made to the fishing sector had been broken. But Scottish Secretary Alister Jack insisted that the UK had ‘secured a fantastic deal’.
Writing in The Times, he said: ‘Coastal communities will thrive outside the EU’s unfair Common Fisheries Policy. We will invest in fishing communities and restore the fleet so our fishermen can catch more fish.
‘The Scottish fish processing sector will benefit from tarifffree access to EU markets.’
A UK Government source said: ‘We have sealed a deal that takes us out of the hated CFP, restores our status as an independent coastal state and ensures big increases in our share of the catch in our own waters.
‘The question for the SNP is, will they back this great deal for Scotland and the UK?
‘Or will they vote against it and support a No Deal Brexit?’
‘We will have full control of our waters’