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European fishermen will be able to continue traveling in British waters, but with tighter restrictions and annual renegotiations from 2026, when access to these fish-filled areas is crucial to their work, reports AFP.
How it was before Brexit
The UK has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that extends up to 200 miles from its coastline, but within the EU, these areas have been grouped together and managed by EU states, through quotas for each species. distributed among fishermen. each country.
In the North East Atlantic and North Sea, up to now 100 species were under shared management between the UK and the EU.
There is also “restricted” access for several European countries to areas located 6-12 nautical miles off the British coast, in territorial waters, in recognition of ancient traditional activities.
Catches by EU fishermen in UK waters weigh around € 650 million a year. The fleets of eight EU countries represent a total of 40% of the value of catches made in the UK’s exclusive economic zone, according to a report by the European Parliament. Norway is also present there.
the new rules of the game
According to the post-Brexit agreement signed on Thursday, the EU will transfer 25% of the value of the products caught in British waters by European fleets to the United Kingdom, after a transition period until June 2026, according to European and British sources.
After this period of five and a half years, this access for European fishermen will be renegotiated annually.
“This will represent 146 million pounds (or about 160 million euros) for the British fleet” each year after the transition and “will increase the catches of British fishermen in British waters by about two-thirds,” says a Downing document. Street.
These terms correspond to the most recent offer made by the British and overlap with a previous offer from the Europeans.
In addition, EU fishermen will retain access to the 6-12 nautical mile area until 2026, which will be renegotiated each year at the end of the transition.
This outlook for annual discussions on fishing quotas and access for European vessels is cause for concern, as it would impede visibility and block investment in vessels and infrastructure that requires long-term depreciation.
European negotiator Michel Barnier himself warned that this solution is difficult to put into practice, given that around a hundred species are at stake.
Vital access for EU fishermen
A quarter of French catches by volume (around 20% by value) comes from British waters. The dependency is even higher for Belgium (50% of their catches), Ireland (35%), Denmark (30%) and the Netherlands (28%), according to figures from 2011-2015. Spain, Germany and Sweden are also affected to a lesser extent.
The main species are pelagic (deep sea) fish: herring, mackerel, whiting, etc. to which are added some demersal species (close to the bottom of the sea): sole, flounder, cod.
On a commercial level, the UK exports between 60% and 80% of its seafood, and the EU absorbed almost 70% of the UK’s fish exports last year.
Fish-rich waters
British waters are rich in fishery resources due to biological mechanisms.
Fish eggs are deposited along the French coast and up to Denmark, feeding grounds, because they are quite shallow and sandy. “When they become adults, they go to the somewhat deeper, colder and oxygenated waters of the north”, according to the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer). Or in British waters.
A phenomenon accentuated by climate change and particularly sensitive to cod and flounder, species very present in the North Sea.
