Fishing ‘sacrificed’ to win approval

PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has sacrificed the fishing industry in a drive to secure a trade deal with the EU, fishing organisations have said.

Barrie Deas, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, said there will be “frustration and anger” across the industry about the outcome of the negotiations.

Mr Johnson told a Government press conference: “For the first time since 1973 we will be an independent coastal state with full control of our waters.”

But Mr Deas said: “In the end it was clear that Boris Johnson wanted an overall trade deal and was willing to sacrifice fishing.”

He said: “The broad feeling is that the UK has made significant concessions on fish in order to secure a trade deal. I think the industry will be extremely disappointed. We have secured increases in quota from the EU but they don’t come anywhere close to what our entitlement is in international law. So I think there will be frustration and anger across the industry about that.”

Mr Deas said he thought the failure to secure a 12-mile exclusion zone to protect inshore fisheries for at least five years is “going to be particularly contentious”. He said it was “understandable” that “the EU wanted to hold on to the advantages it has held for 40 years”.

Olivier Hoslet European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier carries a binder of the Brexit trade deal