Fishing communities ‘must feel the benefits of leaving European Union’
ANY ECONOMIC benefits that come from leaving the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) under Brexit must be felt in the communities that depend on the sector, according to a report.
The latest publication, part of a project by The UK in a Changing Europe, has called for an assessment of how fishing communities will be affected by leaving the EU.
The recommendation is one of 15 in the report, which looks at the lessons that can be learned by a post-Brexit UK from other non-EU coastal states – namely Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands.
It found that Brexit creates “opportunities” for the UK Government and the devolved administrations to develop their own approaches to fisheries management, but notes it also brings “challenges” linked to the devolution set-up and the complexity of the sector.
It comes after Yorkshire MP Holly Lynch, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Communities, warned that there were a number of issues that needed to be addressed in the Government’s upcoming White Paper “if we are to create a secure future for our fishing sector”. She wrote in The Yorkshire
Post this week: “The number of people working on the fishing fleets here in Yorkshire and the Humber has reduced dramatically since 2011 – by almost 30 per cent.”
The report, compiled by researchers at the University of the West of Scotland, states that withdrawing from the CFP means the UK will become an independent coastal state with decision-making over fisheries policy returning to the UK.
“Despite some perceived advantages of leaving the CFP, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU presents significant challenges for the future governance of fisheries,” it states.
“Brexit means that the UK and its devolved administrations must develop policy-making and governance capacities in an area where they have hitherto had limited discretion.”
It adds that governing fisheries after Brexit will be “a balancing act” juggling the interests of the sector – which tended to back Brexit with the need to keep fisheries sustainable. The report notes the fishing industry’s hopes that “the ability to catch more fish” following Brexit will bring a benefit to fishing communities.
Significant challenges for the future governance of fisheries. What the report says will be the result of the UK leaving the European Union.