UK must bargain harder for fisheries
One area that hoped to benefit from Brexit was fishing. In an independent coastal nation, freed of the constraints of the Common Fisheries Policy, the UK’S trawler fleet could flourish again. But it has not worked out like that. Under the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), European boats can continue to fish British waters under phased access arrangements, though they could be excluded entirely after 2026. Now, however, France is threatening to cut off power to Jersey, claiming the self-governing UK dependency is denying licences to boats entitled to fish in its waters. In a further escalation of the situation, Boris Johnson last night dispatched two Royal Navy vessels to avert the threat of a blockade of St Helier.
France’s behaviour has been extreme and unfriendly, to say the least. The issue is whether French boats can show evidence of previous activity in Jersey waters, as required under the TCA. France seems to take the view that boats unable to supply this information should be allowed to fish anyway. Yet it does not show the same disregard for the rules when holding up the import of British fish into the EU through France.
Another area of concern is the Government’s failure to negotiate replacement agreements with non-eu countries for the right to continue fishing in waters that had been open to British boats for decades. Talks with Norway for renewed access to the Barents Sea collapsed last week despite what the UK called a “fair” offer on quotas, though a side agreement for Svalbard cod and haddock was struck. This has left the UK Fisheries distant water boat, Kirkella, stuck in port in Hull with its crew and other workers facing redundancy.
Norway, however, can continue to sell its fish into the UK market free of tariffs under post-brexit continuity arrangements. What incentive did it have to reach an agreement on fish? The Government is not prepared to bargain fishing rights for trade; yet the TCA did precisely that for EU countries, so the logic of not applying the same criteria with Norway and Iceland is hard to fathom.
Fishing was supposedly the poster child for Brexit yet few in the industry appear happy with what has happened so far. Some pelagic trawler fleets based in Scotland have benefited but elsewhere there is deep disappointment. Boats will gradually get a greater share in the coming years, but the pressures they are facing as a result of extra bureaucracy when exporting produce are hitting their livelihoods now. These issues need to be addressed if the industry is to remain viable.